


Hummingbird Heartbeat

by My_LittleCorner, SarynotSary



Series: NSFW Clawen [8]
Category: Jurassic World Trilogy (Movies)
Genre: Angst, Clawen, F/M, Fluff, High School AU, It will have some smut, Just kidding...a lot of cheating, Romance, Some Humor maybe, clawen au, good girl meets bad boy, hormones always beat even the brightest, some cheating, some sisterly bonding, to be young and in love
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-07
Updated: 2019-03-22
Packaged: 2019-10-06 04:36:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 38,120
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17338718
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/My_LittleCorner/pseuds/My_LittleCorner, https://archiveofourown.org/users/SarynotSary/pseuds/SarynotSary
Summary: [Clawen AU]Claire is a smart beautiful 16-year-old Junior with the perfect score card and bound to be accepted in every Ivy university. She has the perfect boyfriend, a best friends kind of bond with her older sister, and a pair of loving but strict parents.Owen is a ruthless handsome 18-year-old Junior (yes, he is 2 years behind) who only has the football team going for him and a Guinness Record on detention. He rides a bike and every aspect about him makes girls swoon.One rainy afternoon, Claire and Owen start interacting and their Highschool experience changes forever.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello. Once again this amazing girl and I teamed up for a collab (second of many to come). 
> 
> This amazing talented girl is the mastermind behind the plot line, while I’m the one behind the story telling. 
> 
> We hope you like this story, happy reading!

Sixteen, smart, pretty, and from a very wealthy and sophisticated family, Claire Dearing had her life figured out. She was the best in class and in her school all together. She liked studying and reading and her dream was to go to Yale, like her dad and grandfather had. She wanted to study something interesting like political science and simply rule the world, make it a better place. 

From a very young age, she had been very determined, and kind of a control freak. At the age of three, her parents would watch her align her toys by size. Once she started elementary school, her notebooks were color coded and by fifth grade she already had her own studying method. 

She was the pride of the Dearing family, not once had she gotten in trouble or grounded. She was the youngest of two sisters. Karen, the eldest, was ten years her senior. She was engaged to her long term boyfriend, Scott, but still lived at home with her parents and younger sibling, with whom she had a strong bond, and had promised to never leave her side until Claire eventually went to college. 

Robert and Eleanor Dearing both came from prestigious families, generations of successful businessmen and women who were involved in society by hosting all kinds of public events, like charities. They were caring but strict. Karen still lived at home also because their old fashioned modesty wouldn’t allow her to move in with a man out of wedlock. The eldest Dearing sister didn’t find this too much of a problem, since she was waiting for Claire to graduate High school to get married and start her own family. 

Karen had been a teenager in that household and knew how challenging it was. Claire had always been there for her, and their close bond simply kept her from leaving her behind on her own when she was starting the most difficult phase of adolescence. 

Every morning, on her way to school, Claire would come downstairs and find dad reading The Wall Street Journal. He would always shoot her a quote from a literature novel and Claire gave him the author and the name of the book. It was a little trivia they shared since her 8th grade. 

Some days, her boyfriend, Sam Thompson, would need a ride to school and so he would ride his bicycle to Claire’s place. He had been raised to be a gentleman and would always clean his feet on the entrance mat before stepping in and ring the doorbell. He would make sure he greeted Robert with a handshake and exchanged some words with him about the latest stock market stats. 

He then would make sure his girlfriend’s mom got a warm compliment and asked Karen about Scott. Claire and Sam had been together for over a year and her family was very welcoming of the relationship. 

Sam was a great student with goals set straight, and he respected Claire like the lady she was. Not to mention, he was the typical pretty boy with chocolate brown hair, a classic clipper haircut with short layers that allowed Claire to run her fingers smoothly through it. He had deep blue eyes and the pair of glasses he wore only made him look more intellectual than he already was.

“Are you ready, lovebirds?” Karen gave her father a kiss on the cheek. She was running late to work but their school was on her way there so she didn’t mind giving both teens a ride. 

Claire and Sam giggled. He gently reached out for the redhead’s backpack and adjusted it over one of his shoulders, having his hanging from the other one. Claire smiled faintly at the gesture. They walked to the kitchen so she could fetch some of her notebooks but he beat her to it and carry them for her. 

“We are leaving, mom.” Claire announced, the woman was on the phone planning one of the gala events they had coming at the end of the month with her elite group of friends. 

She nodded before excusing herself to the person on the other line. “I hope you can come for dinner tonight, Sam.” She offered. “We are having pot roast and I know how much you like it.” She smiled. 

“Thank you.” He agreed to the invitation. “Best pot roast I’ve ever had, I promise.” He offered a smile. It was true, he didn’t know what the secret ingredient in it was, but he always ended up accepting Eleanor’s offer to serve him more. 

Sam let Claire walk out first and he followed her. Once at the car, he also made sure to open the passenger’s door for her and once she was inside, he closed the door and got in the backseat. 

Arriving at the school grounds, they both thanked Karen for the ride and got out of the car. They walked up to the building holding hands and once at the entrance, Claire offered a loving kiss. He truly was the perfect first boyfriend any girl could dream of. She didn’t know anyone else like him, and unlike most boys, he didn’t rush her into anything. 

You could say they had a very formal relationship for their age: their parents knew them and loved them like their own, but they had yet to do more than a make out session. They both had their goals sorted and priorities in check and knew there will be time for all that in the future. Plus, Sam was very respectful of Claire and her family, and wanted to do this right.

Claire changed her books once they reached her locker and smiled sweetly at the guy standing there with her. “Thank you, Sammy~” She flirted before offering him a couple of pecks. She took her backpack from him and adjusted it over her shoulders. 

He smiled, “You are welcome, Claire Bear.” 

“See you for lunch.” She nodded before kissing his cheek one last time, the bell announcing it was time for people to get to their first period. 

 

* * *

 

Claire stayed at school for tutorials twice a week for extra credit, most of those times she had to figure out a way to get back home since her dad and Karen were at work and her mom had a tea date with her girlfriends. 

It wasn’t until she made it to the entrance that she realized it had been pouring. It was November, and even if she always liked to be prepared, she of course had to forget her umbrella in Karen’s car that morning. She was on her cellphone, trying to see if she could catch a lift from somebody, but she didn’t have anyone left. 

She sighed and slowly turned her sight up, trying to figure out a way to make it to the bus stop without getting too soaked. This was of course impossible, since it was about two blocks down. 

“Claire?” A masculine voice called out her name. She wasn’t familiar with it but she still turned around to see who it was, hoping maybe she could get a ride from them.

It was Owen Grady, the school’s quarterback and that one guy in everyone’s school who couldn’t stay out of trouble and was always terrorizing other students. That one handsome rough guy with the confidence of a rock star who could make any girl he wanted swoon and fall in his bed after living the experience of being wooed by his dominant nature. 

“Ugh...” She breathed thinking things couldn’t get worse. She and Owen didn’t really belong to the same group of students, but she was familiar with him since Sam was usually an easy target for the jock. 

He was standing by his bike, under the rain, his curly-ish, dirty blonde hair completely soaked along with the white t-shirt he had worn to school that day. The V-neck giving a glance of his scattered chest hair, not to mention that wet fabric hugged every pectoral in his chest. Owen was handsome, and there wasn’t a single straight girl who could avoid staring for a second; Claire included.

He was trying to light up a cigarette before heading back to an empty house; both his parents worked full time jobs. His mom always took extra hours after her shift so she didn’t make it home until late at night, while his dad always stopped by the local bar to relax and get a couple of beers with his buddies before making it on time for supper and his cop shows. 

Grady had just stepped out of detention. It felt like he had it added to his daily periods since he spent almost every afternoon there. He had even come to an unspoken agreement with the detention teacher, so they didn’t bother each other. Owen was free to sit there and do as he pleased as long as he didn’t get into much trouble and didn’t give the teacher a hard time. They were also always exchanging snacks: that day Owen thought he had gotten a sweet deal by getting a pack of Deep River salt and vinegar chips in exchange of a banana he had stolen from some freshman’s lunch tray. 

He was eighteen and a still a Junior — after having failed to pass his Freshman and Sophomore year once each — he and Claire were together in some classes; that’s how he knew her by name. She was also pretty and he couldn’t help noticing her from time to time, while she sat a few seats across from him. She was always at the front, answering every question the teacher asked while he got lost in his head at the back. 

To him, it felt like every teacher was already predisposed to the idea that he was going to fail Junior year too, so he didn’t feel motivated to even try. His score card was nothing but straight Cs and mostly Fs, and the only reason he was allowed to stay in school regardless of his academic record and behavior was because he was the star of their football team: The Raptors were one of the best in the league this year and it was thanks to their captain. 

“Do you need a ride?” He offered, almost as if he was reading her mind. Even if a few feet away from her, Owen fixed his eyes on her green ones, his eyelashes heavy under the rain but he still managed to let his gentle hazel eyes acknowledge her presence. 

Claire thought he was just being a smartass as usual, and didn’t take him seriously. “Sure. I’ll carry my backpack over our heads to avoid getting wet while you ride.” She rolled her eyes.

Owen didn’t say anything and just watched her make a couple of calls and get frustrated. Of course it was a rainy day like today when mom had decided to leave the house, so no one was there. She looked cute angry, but he didn’t say anything. He just looked away and kept smoking his cigarette.

After a couple of minutes of thinking it through, Claire realized she didn’t have any better solution. She would get kicked out of the building soon and end up under the rain anyways. There was already a janitor cleaning the main hallway behind her. 

“I mean it’s not a _Giant_ , but you’ll make it home fast and won’t waste too much time here.” He shrugged, insisting it was not a problem to take her home. 

Claire pursed her lips, catching the dig at her boyfriend’s bicycle, and rolled her eyes. She nibbled on her nails and couldn’t help smiling lightly. 

Owen smiled back, and once he finished his cigarette he shut it off against a tree and tossed the butt on the ground — much to Claire’s frustration. He swung his leg over his bike and slowly brought it to the end of the stairs. He started it, letting it roar. 

Claire adjusted her backpack and took a deep breath. Owen turned around and wiped the water off the back of the seat and motioned with his head for her to just come and hop on. 

The girl gasped when she felt the cold rain soak her in a second. She held her books close to her chest and trotted down the stairs. Owen made sure she was comfortable and took the books away from her. He set them inside the leather bags on the sides of his Scrambler and smiled, “hold tight.” He nodded. 

Her freckled fingers were shy at first, feeling his biceps. They were so thick and strong, nothing like Sam’s average ones. She gulped and nibbled on her lower lip, finding herself leaning against his back and hugging tight. 

She had never gotten on a motorcycle before, finding them dangerous, not to mention her parents would freak out. But, Owen’s confidence while riding it and occasionally checking if she was doing okay made her feel safe. It was a different kind of safety and unknown territory. 

He stopped by her front door and helped her get off the bike. She smiled, not caring anymore about the rain pouring down on them. She was already soaked and it couldn’t get worse than that. She watched him take her notebooks out of the bags and wipe the excess of water off the covers. 

She gulped and just let her eyes make eye contact with his while her fingers brushed against his upon grabbing her books from him. “Thank you...” She offered, unable to stop smiling at the way he was looking at her. 

“You are welcome.” He nodded and didn’t move. There was something in each other’s eyes that worked like magnets and iron, making it hard to break. 

Claire blushed lightly and parted her lips to speak but it took her a few seconds. “Do you want to come in? This rain is not stopping anytime soon and I would hate for you to get sick on my account.” She shrugged, completely ignoring the fact that he was already under the rain before she stepped out of the building. 

Owen nodded, he wasn’t ready to say goodbye to her and knew this opportunity didn’t come too often. 

The house was empty and quiet. They both took their shoes off and carried them over to the living room where Claire set up the fireplace. 

Owen was in awe. He had never in his life been in a house this big. It felt like those white picket fence houses in movies where the family loved each other and ate dinner all together after saying a prayer. He could barely relate to anything in that ideology. He ate alone in his room, while his father ate watching tv in the living room, and his mom washed the dishes and worked in the kitchen after long shift hours. 

“I’ll be right back but you get comfortable.” She mumbled, walking backwards to the staircase. 

Owen nodded and pulled his shirt over his head, allowing her to admire his firm abdomen. It was just like she had pictured it. She had found herself exploring his pectorals through his shirt on their way home, too. 

Her eyes fell on his curly chest hair. She had never seen such a masculine torso. Her boyfriend didn’t have any chest hair and the amount of muscle in just one of Owen’s six packs would be more than all of the muscles of Sam’s chest. 

Claire had to look down, making sure she didn’t make a fool out of herself by stumbling on the stairs. She trotted upstairs so she could change. 

Owen fixed his shirt, his socks, and shoes close to the fireplace. He remained nearby also so he could get warm. He found a few family photos over the fireplace, including Claire’s childhood ones. 

He smiled at how adorable her freckles were and that grin showing how she was missing a couple of teeth. 

She was soon down with a blanket and a couple of towels. She had changed into her fluffy pajamas, feeling comfortable around Owen — something she couldn’t explain herself as to why, but she wasn’t overthinking it. 

Owen took the towel from her before letting his fingers twirl one of her French braids, “Very Pippi Longstockings.” He teased, trying to hide how beautiful he thought she was. 

In that moment he found her natural beauty and innocence more attractive than any half naked woman he had ever jerked off to. 

Claire giggled and watched him dry his cute curls with the towel. “I could get you one of my dad’s pair of pants if you want to change.” She suggested, his jeans were also soaked and cold. 

“I’m fine. I promise.” He shook his head. “Are you set though? I would hate for you to catch a cold on my account.” He nudged her. 

Claire nibbled on her lip and shied away. “What if I do? What would you do?” She flirted. 

“I would make sure I took care of you. Chicken noodle soup is my specialty.” He assured her.

“Who knew Owen Grady was such a good caretaker and gentleman.” She teased.

“Only to pretty ladies, though.” He winked at her making her blush.

“Do you want some hot cocoa?” Claire twirled one of her French braids, unable to stop herself from innocently flirting with him. 

Owen nodded his head and followed her to the kitchen, which was the size of half his house. He scratched the back of his head and poked her side, watching her stretch to reach the top cupboard. 

She giggled and let him reach the Hershey cocoa for her. “Don’t do that!” She tried to poke him back but he managed to avoid it by moving away. He laughed.

Claire went looking for a couple of teaspoons just to feel him moving his arm around her waist. She stopped her search and fixed her eyes on him, studying his every move. 

Owen laughed and casually ran his finger pads down her arm. She shook her head and reached for the two teaspoons.

“Noooo!” She laughed when he poked her other side. Of course the way she was asking him not to was enabling him to keep going. 

She hung one spoon over his nose and giggled, waiting for him to take it. They both dug into the Hershey Cocoa with their own spoon. 

Claire served three spoons into her mug, Owen filling his teaspoon and bringing it to his mouth to eat it like that, in pure powder form. 

“What are you doing?” She laughed once he started coughing it. 

Owen shook his head, trying not to laugh himself, since he was choking. Claire added some sugar and vanilla extract to both their mugs as well as the cocoa to his, for he had failed to do that. 

She offered him a glass of water which he gulped. “See, this is what happens when you tease me.” She pointed a finger at him. 

“It’s worth it, though.” He finally managed to talk, his grin showing pasty cocoa all over his teeth. 

“You have a...” Claire giggled, motioning to his gums and front teeth. She heated some milk in the microwave and froze for a moment, feeling his fingers unconsciously playing with the ends of her braids. He helped her with the hot milk and poured it into their mugs. They each stirred their own for a few seconds.

Owen didn’t lose a second and took a sip from his. He smiled at her with a chocolate mustache, one Claire couldn’t keep herself from cleaning with her finger before licking it. 

They got lost in each other’s eyes for a moment. Owen took a step closer, snapping her out of the moment. 

“You know what is missing? Marshmallows.” She mumbled before going looking for some and dropping them into their mugs. 

“Cheers!” Owen offered, and then they each took a sip from their homemade hot cocoa. 

Claire and Owen got comfortable by the fireplace, watching the rain fall with fury against the floor-to-ceiling widow in her living room. Their fingers casually flirted under the blanket as their tips brushed against each other. 

“You totally need to go clean the kitchen don’t you?” Owen laughed, watching how she kept looking back in that direction. 

He had promised they would get to the spoons and the counter once they were done with their hot beverage. That there was not going to be any difference between doing it then and half an hour later. 

Claire blushed, realizing he could read through her. 

“You know, I think you should try loosen up a bit.” He shrugged. “But...I want to understand you.” He tilted his head, green eyes falling on him. “Why do you feel the need to do it right away or you can’t relax?” He wondered gently. 

Claire shrugged. “I’m just an organized person. I used the spoon so I have to rinse it and put it away. I left the counter dirty, I have to clean after myself.” 

“And you will, but after you enjoy your snack.” He nodded. 

“Yeah—But—”

Owen shook his head, “No buts.” He smiled. “I think it’s cute that you need to follow this strict routine, but—”

“No buts” Claire smiled, nudging him while blushing, liking that he kept finding ways to call her cute, especially on personality traits that most people didn’t like about her. 

Owen nodded. “No buts...you are cute, period.” He offered. 

Claire smirked and looked down at her half empty mug. “Now you tell me, because I too want to understand you.” She fixed her eyes on his. In just an hour or so, she had been able to see a side of Owen that she was positive not even him knew he possessed. “You failing the semester...why? You are very smart, so why flunk on purpose?” She tilted her head. 

His hazel eyes looked at her with adoration for the first time that afternoon. She was the first person to ever say he was smart and that meant a lot to him. Owen looked away and shrugged. 

“Hey...” she murmured. 

“No one thinks I can do better than a C, so why bother.” He frowned.

“I think you can do better.” She assured him. “I didn’t think you cared about what people thought of you, though.” She added lightly. 

“I didn’t...” He assured her, “Until now.” He smiled, once again making eye contact with her. 

Claire smiled back and slowly reached out, his curls were all messy and she found them adorable and couldn’t help taking one in her finger and twirling it playfully.

He smiled and leaned closer, but the sound of her cellphone going off interrupted them. 

Claire read the caller ID: it was her boyfriend. “Hey, Sam.” She greeted him. She usually called him Sammy but for some reason his call had gotten her all nervous. 

“I’m fine.” She nodded. “No I didn’t, dad got off work early so he picked me up.” Claire found herself unaware that she was starting a chain of lies. 

Owen raised an eyebrow, realizing she hadn’t told her boyfriend the truth about how she had made it home, something he took as a compliment. 

“Yeah, see you tonight.” She agreed, “Love you too.” She offered, before hanging up on him and putting her cellphone down. 

Owen grinned playfully at her, watching her get comfortable. 

“What?” She blushed.

“Nothing, I didn’t know I was your dirty little secret...that’s all.” He shrugged.

“Ugh.” She rolled her eyes, unable to avoid the butterflies flapping in her stomach because somehow, he was right. “You seriously think he would have found it cool that I’m here having cocoa with the source of his nightmares, don’t you?” 

“We are friends.” He shrugged. “What a loser.” He scoffed. “What is he afraid of anyways? So..? He just can’t take a couple of nicknames, what a wussy.” He shook his head. 

Claire was quiet. “You do more than just call him names.” She curved an eyebrow.

Owen snorted. “Why are you with that wimp anyways. You are out of his league.” He smiled softly.

Claire nibbled on her lower lip and looked up into his eyes. “He is caring and kind.” She explained, “And very dependable.” 

“How romantic.” Owen mocked her relationship slightly bitterly. “You can do better than George McFly.” He insisted.

Claire couldn’t help laughing, but soon covered her mouth. This was the first time she understood the nickname Owen had for Sam, and she hated to admit it was on point. 

Owen smiled sweetly at her, feeling slightly enabled. Claire got lost in the way his hazel eyes were looking at her. Those green orbs almost asking him what kind of man he thought deserved her, and his hazel ones quietly assuring her he could give her everything she saw in Sam and the things that had her staring back at him. 

It was the clanging of the antique wall clock her mom had hanging by the fireplace that shook Claire out of that trance. She looked to check the time: it was 5PM. 

“My dad should be home soon.” She straightforwardly apologized with a frown. “I don’t think he will find it appropriate if...” 

“I get it.” He nodded, grabbing his clothes so he could get dressed. “And for the record, I don’t mind it.” He assured her. 

Claire nodded, taking the hint. Owen had a reputation that expanded beyond school premises, and parents also knew about him and how he was nothing but trouble. The Dearings in particular couldn’t even hear his name without sliding in a few offensive and classist remarks about the young man. 

Once he was dressed, Claire walked him to the front door. “I’m sorry I couldn’t keep my promise.” He offered.

“Huh?” She tilted her head.

“About cleaning the kitchen.” He shrugged.

She smiled. “See, this why I wanted to do it beforehand.” 

He laughed.

Claire gently hugged him and felt her heart pounding fast against her chest. “Thank you for the ride.” 

“Thank you for the cocoa.” Owen smiled, holding her back. He closed his eyes, feeling her lips softly pressing a kiss to his cheek.

“Don’t be a stranger.” She offered, slowly letting go and watching him get on his bike; it had stopped raining.

“I don’t think I’ll be able to stay away from you, so.” He teased her with full honesty. 

They waved goodbye and she watched him turn around and leave the property.

“Neither will I...” She murmured to herself, before going back home to clean the kitchen and make sure everything looked impeccable.


	2. Chapter 2

Claire was at her usual table in the cafeteria; for a couple of days now, she had been sitting on the opposite side to her usual spot. From there, she could have eye contact with Owen, who always sat with his buddies across from her table. 

She couldn’t stop smiling while nibbling on her plastic fork. There was something about those deep hazel eyes that was so distracting and captivating. This not only happened during lunch break, but also whenever they crossed paths in the hallways. 

Owen was the first one to break eye contact with Claire once his friends, Barry, Dan, and Trevor from the football team joined him. He absentmindedly ran a hand through his curls, which made Claire squirm as blood rushed to her cheeks: she found his hair adorable and secretly irresistible. 

“Why are you blushing?” Zara, Claire’s best friend, wondered after she sat across from her. 

Claire reached to touch her warm cheeks and shook her head, “Do you want to trade?” She suggested, seeing Zara’s snack was Salt and Vinegar while hers was cheese. 

The brunette girl nodded and they traded chips. “So, where’s Sam?” She wondered. The couple always met at their lockers to put their books away and then walk to the cafeteria together.

“Who?” Claire frowned, still a little distracted while casually glancing over towards Owen. 

“Your boyfriend…?” Zara narrowed her eyes, the palm of her hand facing up in a ‘duh’ gesture.

“Oh, um...” Claire looked around. “Oh shit, I said I’d meet him at his locker.” Claire hit her forehead, having forgotten about that. She took her cellphone out to text him but he was already sitting on the bench next to her before she could press send.

“Hey.” Sam tilted his head smiling at her, his fingers gently playing with the ends of her hair.

“I was about to text you!” She wrinkled her nose apologetically. 

“It’s fine.” He shook his head, his fingers playing with her earring. Claire nodded and lightly kissed his cheek.  Sam nudged her playfully, and after they exchanged a couple of giggles, they started to eat. 

They were soon met by their other two friends: Vivian and Lowery. The group of friends started to casually talk about the upcoming history test they had in a week or so.

All five of them were dedicated to their subjects and their score cards didn’t go below a B. Claire had never gotten anything under an A-, but she was in a league of her own. 

They each had a field of expertise, one subject they handled and loved better than the other four, so they were always pushing each other, often studying in group. Lowery was a genius when it came to analytics, so he was the go-to guy when they needed help for math or physics. Vivian was into Biology and Chemistry, while Sam was into Literature and was very fluent in French, which was the second language they all were taking. Claire was the one who loved History and anything related to social sciences. 

“Ouch!” Claire reacted to the light kick she felt on her ankle. 

“Oops, sorry.” Zara rolled her eyes. They were all waiting for her to agree to meet that afternoon. It was her turn to lead the study group and they all felt they really needed her tips and wisdom to memorize all those dates and important names their teacher had warned would be a very important part of the test.

Claire looked up for a moment at the handsome young man at the table in front of her, almost as if asking Owen to wait a second before they could continue their staring contest. If looks could talk, the way they had been smiling and looking into each other’s eyes would translate to a heated flirting session.

“Um...” Claire took a second, trying to figure out what the questions was. “I can’t today, you guys know that.” She reminded them before going back to her food. 

“It’s okay. Maybe tomorrow?” Her boyfriend was the only one who didn’t sigh and complain. He took her hand and gently laced their fingers together. 

Owen frowned, watching how Claire left a small peck on her boyfriend’s lips. He didn’t know why it suddenly upset him to watch her do it, when the couple had always exchanged chaste kisses during lunch break; this was not the first time he was witnessing it and it certainly wouldn’t be the last. 

He put his sandwich down and pushed the tray across the table: he had lost his appetite.

“Bro?!” Trevor threw his hands up in the air when Owen’s tray knocked over his drink, spilling it on the table. 

“Let’s get out of here.” Owen suggested before standing up. Trevor and Dan just rolled their eyes, not wanting to argue, and headed out, while Barry stayed behind. 

“Please tell me I’m cross-eyed, because from where I was sitting it looked like you couldn’t get your eyes off Claire Dearing.” Barry pointed out, hoping he was wrong, because a nerd like her would damage his reputation.

“You are cross-eyed.” Owen bitterly gave him what he wanted while tossing his empty tray onto the others on top of the trash can. 

“If she weren’t dating McFly, I’d say she has a thing for you.” Barry laughed, both jocks looking over towards Claire’s table, from which she was smiling sweetly at Owen now that he was leaving, Sam’s arm around her shoulders.

“Guess I have a fan.” Owen shrugged. Barry hit his shoulder, unable to stop laughing. “Leave her alone, though.” Owen added before pushing him back, that was just the way they played.

“Think fast, grandma!” Trevor shouted from the other end of the hallway once Owen and Barry were out of the cafeteria, and threw them a fast ball, which Owen caught with no problem. 

“So do you want to share what was with all the ogling?” Zara mumbled while both her and Claire emptied their trays into the trashcan. 

“I would, but I have no idea what you are talking about.” Claire smiled before she casually looked away, unable to make eye contact with her best friend.

“You and John Bender?” 

“What?” Claire didn’t follow her for a moment. “Oh.” She shook her head, “That was definitely not ogling.” She insisted. “I mean...I...we talked the other day and..pfff...I was just smiling politely.”

“And drooling friendly.” Zara didn’t buy it. 

“He is nice. He isn’t as bad as people think he is.” Claire shrugged. She looked up at her friend, who was shaking her head at her. “It was one silly talk, can you please just drop it?”

“I don’t know...”

“We exchanged three words, come on...people will frown upon this.”

“Exactly.” Zara crossed her arms against her chest. “I won’t say anything, but stay away from that bully.” 

Claire rolled her eyes and nodded lightly, both girls walking out of the cafeteria where the rest of their group was waiting. Sam smiled at his girlfriend and laced fingers with her, walking hand in hand to their next class.

 

* * *

 

Owen had football practice that afternoon after school, which meant he was in a good mood now. The field was the only place where he felt important, so he played with passion and was loved by the crowd. He was laughing with his buddies while they trotted back to the lockers room. 

He almost never took a shower after practice, but he hadn’t been able to get those cute freckles and that sweet smile out of his head, and he was planning on meeting them again. He had sneaked out of last period to check the tutoring timetables to see if Claire would be in the building by the time he was done with practice. Owen hadn’t been able to erase the smile that grew on his face when he read that she would be, indeed. 

He was greeted by a warm smile: the way Claire nibbled on her lower lip made him feel tickles shooting down his spine. 

“What are you doing here?” She tilted her head and inched closer. Owen was waiting for her by his bike, in the same spot where they had met the other day. 

Owen shrugged. “I just finished football practice...” He left his lips parted for a second, wanting to continue that sentence, but instead he looked down and scratched the back of his neck. 

“Cool.” Claire offered, watching him adjust his worn out backpack over his shoulder. “Um...” She looked down to her shoes and slowly reached for something in her backpack. 

Owen’s hazel eyes moved to watch her taking out a bag of salt and vinegar chips and handing them over to him.

“I got your favorite with my lunch so...I thought you might want them.” She smiled. “I don’t really like that flavor, so…” She shrugged it off, trying to make the gesture look casual. 

“Thanks.” Owen felt his heart beating fast. He took that as a sign that Claire wasn’t just being polite, but she liked him and he just needed to do something about it, act on these feelings that he was experiencing towards her. 

He had just met her a few days before, but they were already always talking as he walked her out of school on the days she had tutorials (and he detention). There were a few things they had learned about each other, even if just during a few minutes of conversation. 

“Would you like to go on a ride with me?” He offered with a charming smile, one Claire had just found out she couldn’t say no to. 

She had a test to study for, one she had kept postponing, and she knew she should head home to prepare for it. However, there was something about Owen that had her hypnotized, and she had had so much fun riding the other day under the rain, that she couldn’t pass the invitation.

Claire blushed and nodded as he extended his hand, reaching out for her. Owen didn’t know anything more adorable than those beautiful freckles drowning in the shade of pink her cheeks were displaying. He made a mental note to try to make her blush the most he could. So far, that was his favorite thing. 

The redhead adjusted on the back of his bike and wrapped her arms tight around his torso. She couldn’t help but feel butterflies at the combination of how strong he was and the scent of fresh Old Spice she was smelling on him. She rested her head against his back; she was so into the adrenaline of the moment, that she completely forgot to ask for a helmet or where they were going. 

After riding for about ten minutes, Owen came to a stop. They had reached the high point of the town over a small cliff that overviewed the suburbs beneath them. There were a few trees surrounding them, too. The height made the temperature feel a little chilly, so Owen helped Claire into his Raptors jacket and gently rubbed her arms. 

He held her hand and slowly helped her off the bike, neither of them letting go as they walked to a bench that offered a seat to the amazing view. 

That was Owen’s favorite spot in the whole world. That’s were he went to when he wanted to be alone and just ease his mind from all the negativity people injected in him. 

He waited for Claire to sit on the bench before he sat next to her. He slowly set his backpack on the ground next to him and reached for a ziplock bag he was carrying with him. 

Green eyes quietly watched him: Claire couldn’t help her growing smile when she noticed he was taking out a bag full of gummy bears. On the afternoon when she had learned that salt and vinegar were his favorite chips, Claire had told him how much she liked gummy bears, but her parents never allowed her to eat sweets, claiming that they were bad for her teeth and caused cavities. 

She placed her hand on her belly: never in her life had she felt such intense butterflies. Not even for her first kiss or anything similar to that. 

“I don’t want you to think that I want you to get in trouble, ‘cause I don’t.” Owen looked down, opening the ziplock bag for her. He knew she was riding on his bike without her parents’ approval, not to mention that one afternoon they had spent alone at her place without any adult supervision. 

“No.” Claire shook her head, “I like it...” She confessed. That was something she never thought she’d admit. She was always following the rules and the norm, but with Owen everything was exciting and new. She knew he had awaken a side of her that she had always repressed, afraid that no one would understand, but with him it came out naturally. 

Claire reached into the bag and took out a green gummy bear, while Owen grabbed a red one. “Cheers.” He smiled, brushing his gummy bear against hers and tossing it into his mouth, watching her nibble on hers, slowly stepping into this new territory where she’d be breaking many things beyond a few silly house rules. 

“How was practice?” She casually asked, both of them giggling when they went into the bag at the same time and grabbed the same gummy bear. The sparks it triggered inside them made Claire blush and look away. 

“It was good. We did chutes today.” He shrugged. 

“I don’t know what that is.” She laughed before letting her eyes fall on his lips for a moment. 

“They’re these metallic platforms to help up stay low and stuff.” He explained, watching her happily eat those gummy bears, trying not to stare for too long at her adorableness. 

“I...I saw you in Mr. Brown’s class today.” She casually let him know. “I’m glad you decided to join us.” She smiled. Owen was always finding ways to miss Chemistry. 

“Yeah?” He smiled softly. 

Claire nodded. “I hope we can see each other more often in class.” 

“Me too.” He smiled. “How was tutoring?” He asked, wanting to show some interest in her day too. 

“Stressful.” She admitted. “But it’s okay, I’m glad I didn’t cancel them today.” She nudged him lightly while he kept munching on his gummy bears. 

“I know we haven’t been talking for long but...I’m glad we do. I always thought you were a know-it-all little brat who needed to have things go her way or else.” Owen admitted, looking down at his hands. 

“I’m at least two of those, though.” Claire joked, “But I’m not a brat.” She shook her head, confessing she could be a pain in the ass.

“No, you’re not. You are great. And kinda cute.” He shrugged. “I kinda like you.” 

“Is that why you waited for me outside school?” She flirted with him, letting him know she knew he was doing just that.

“Yeah.”

“And brought me here.” She gulped and found her arm moving around his, before they made eye contact and exchanged a smile. 

Owen nodded. “You are the first person I bring here.” He confessed. He felt like he could be himself and show her his vulnerable side, feeling safe with her, knowing she wouldn’t make fun of him. “Everyone makes me feel bad about myself so I come here to try to feel better. This is the one and only place where I ever felt good about myself...until I met you, so I wanted to share it with you.” 

Claire gulped lightly. She looked lovingly into his gentle hazel eyes and reached out to play with those curls she liked so much. “That’s because you don’t deserve all that.” She shook her head. “I thought you were just a punk who didn’t care about anything or anyone, but you are actually very thoughtful. And amazing.” She offered. 

“Yeah?” He smiled, loving that she thought of him that way.

“And very attractive, too.” She chuckled and blushed, watching him offering her a cheeky grin that she found so sexy. 

They both chuckled and stayed quiet for a moment, admiring the view while their arms stayed tangled. 

“Can I have your number?” Owen was very experienced with that, so he didn’t shy away from being forward. “So we can text and talk. I mean, only if you want.” He shrugged, watching her eyes fixing on his, almost as if she didn’t expect him to ask her for it.

“I want to.” Claire nodded. “I would like that, actually.” She smiled. Owen pulled his cellphone out and started dialing her number so he could save it on his iPhone. He then texted her a smiley face so she could have his. Claire giggled and saved his number. She smiled at him and put her cellphone away. 

“There you go, I hope you make good use of it.” He teased her before the two of them started to get up and walk back to his bike so they could head home. 

On their way to dropping her off, Claire had asked if he could leave her at a playground that was just about a block away from her house. Owen agreed, understanding her parents would lose it if they found out she had been on a bike and with him. 

Claire carefully got off the bike and grabbed her things from the leather bags on the sides, adjusting her backpack over her shoulders. She smiled sweetly at Owen before she turned around so she could walk home. 

“Oh. Here.” She set her backpack on the ground once she had turned back to face him and, taking his jacket off, she handed it back. She placed her backpack over her shoulders again and, leaning over, she kissed his cheek gently. 

“Bye...” Owen mumbled with a soft smile on his lips. 

“Bye…” Claire smiled back and sighed as she turned around so she could head back home. 

She frowned as she started walking, feeling confused and at the same time excited. Owen stood there on his bike, watching her walk away, and he simply couldn’t take it. He killed the engine and hopped off, running after her. The sound of his bike going off made Claire turn around. 

He pulled her against his body and without giving it a thought, he let his instincts take control of him. Owen kissed her tenderly, his arms wrapped around her tightly, not wanting her to slip away from his embrace. 

Claire shut her brain down and kissed him back gently, parting her lips so his tongue could kiss her deeply. The taste of the fruity gummy bears lingered in their mouths, making the kiss even sweeter. She gripped onto his shirt, pulling him closer, unable to get enough. 

She had never been kissed like that: his arms felt so warm and sheltering while his lips and tongue were taking her on a trip around the moon. They finally had to pull back for some air.

He smiled at her, brushing his fingers against her cheek, Claire leaning against his touch. She smiled back and offered him a tender peck, before he cupped her cheek with one hand and kissed her lovingly once again. 

“See you tomorrow.” He murmured, fixing his hazel eyes on hers, watching her nod. They exchanged a couple of more pecks before he turned around, smiling wide, and hopped back on his bike. 

Owen let his motorcycle roar a little, watching Claire smile at the sound, and slowly started to take off, leaving her standing there. She reached up and brushed her finger pads against her lips, not believing what had just happened, her heart still beating fast against her chest.  

She squealed and, nibbling on her lower lip, she smiled to herself and started walking home. 


	3. Chapter 3

The screen of her iPhone had read it was midnight the last time she had looked at it. That had been about five minutes earlier, even when it felt like hours for Claire. She was usually already asleep by 11PM, but that night she simply couldn’t sleep.

There was so much going on in her mind. The teenager was lying on her back, facing the ceiling, her finger twirling a strand of her hair while she sighed. She was playing the last seven hours in her mind, not believing what she had done. 

She smiled and felt her freckles warm as her cheeks grew pink. She squealed and pulled her covers up, hiding half her face with them, the images of that kiss still fresh in her brain. She could still feel Owen’s lips on hers, and it made the dozen butterflies in her tummy flap uncontrollably. 

She wiggled her feet under her covers; the only thing she was regretting was how odd she had behaved that night at dinner when her parents had tried to engage in a casual conversation with her. They always asked about tutoring, and even if she had gone through it without any abnormality. But the only event of her afternoon she could think about was the hour she had spent with Owen. 

She had also lied to Sam about her whereabouts that afternoon. A simple question had her babbling and making up that she hadn’t been able to study because she had to stop by the store to get a few things she needed for school.

Claire decided to think of something else, something that possibly didn’t remind her of all the white little lies she had told to cover up what had her feeling so fuzzy inside. She went back to the kiss and sighed contently. 

The more she thought about it, the more things she discovered about why she was finding herself completely crushing on Owen, and what she found so irresistible about him. He was the best thing of two worlds, and she couldn’t get enough of the way his strong rough hands had felt so gentle around her. He was a brute on the outside, with a very dominant personality, and yet he had been so caring and kind with her. He might have not been the type to wear a bow tie and his hair impeccably pushed back, someone who treated her like a fragile piece of fine porcelain, but he was passionate and would do anything to make her happy and make sure no one messed with her. 

Everything about his personality, his real one, was what Claire needed and wanted in order to feel adored and safe. It was everything she had always wished she had, and Sam was the opposite of that. Yes, he treated her like a princess and put her first, but that was a gentleman to a lady: she needed more than just good manners. 

Claire fetched her cellphone one last time and went looking for the one message she had gotten from Owen back when they exchanged numbers; she texted _Goodnight_ with a red heart emoji.

After setting her cellphone back on her nightstand, Claire closed her eyes and drifted to sleep with a smile on her face, finally able to hint that she hadn’t been offended by his move earlier, and encouraging him to approach her again. 

 _Goodnight_ , _beautiful._ Owen replied after a few minutes, a text message Claire didn’t see until the following morning.

 

* * *

 

“What is it?” Sam giggled while letting his thumb caress the back of Claire’s hand. Since they had met at the front of the building before the bell, the teen had been trying to talk to him and come forward about her new feelings for another boy, but she simply couldn’t find a way to do it. They had been together for so long and he was the sweetest of guys: the idea of breaking his heart was unbearable to her. 

“Nothing.” Claire shook her head, “Why?” She managed to ask. 

That morning, while she got ready and her dad drove her to school, she had been trying to predict her behavior towards her boyfriend, and even if it hadn’t come as a surprise that she hadn’t felt guilty at all for kissing another boy (and liking it), she was feeling bad that she couldn’t be honest with Sam about it. 

“I don’t know!” He flirted, at which Claire tilted her head. “It just seems like you want to tell me something.” He shrugged.

Claire was literally saved by the bell as she parted her lips to speak. “I have to go to class, but it’s nothing...I promise.” She waved him goodbye before she turned around and headed to math class. 

The redhead hugged her books against her chest and walked into her classroom. She found her usual desk in the front row waiting for her, and once she took a seat, she started to get ready while waiting for their teacher. 

“Are you joining us, Mr. Grady?” Mr Weaver wondered while standing by the door. He had given up on the troubled kid and didn’t care if he joined or not; he was already an adult and he was tired of dragging him around like a kid. However, Owen seemed to be walking down the hall to class. 

Claire looked up from her books at the sound of his name and smiled to herself. She turned to look at the door and waved lightly, watching him step into the classroom and finding a desk at the back. 

Claire looked back to the front and nibbled on her lower lip, happy to see that he was starting to attend classes. This was the second day in a row that she had seen him in classes they had together.

The teacher started right away, his back to the students, while he explained the topic of the day: the sound of the chalk against the board filling the quiet room. He was probably the only teacher who treated them like grown ups and his method was very similar to college, they were juniors after all. It also paid off, since they behaved in class and the results were very positive. 

Claire felt her iPhone buzzing in the pocket of her jacket and she filled with curiosity, she snuck it out and rested it on her lap. _I just can’t miss classes we have together anymore. Or keep my eyes away from you while you are so concentrated._

Claire nibbled on her lip, trying not to squeal at Owen’s text. She looked up, noticing their teacher was still engaged in writing on the blackboard. _You sure about that? I haven’t been able to concentrate since yesterday._ She replied, making him smile. 

“Miss Dearing, you know the rules!” Mr Weaver had turned around in time to catch her pressing send. He had his hand open, waiting for the student to hand in her cellphone. Everyone was surprised that of all people, Claire had been caught using her cellphone in class.

Claire turned to make eye contact with Owen for a second, and gave her cellphone over. She shrugged, wrinkling her nose. Owen grinned lovingly while leaning over the top of his armchair desk, the pink blush growing in her cheeks not going unnoticed as she turned back around. 

Owen found scissors in his backpack and quietly started to carve the desk. He still had trouble finding interest in class, and making doodles on the wooden top was more interesting. He looked up from time to time, smiling to himself as he watched Claire taking notes and answering questions. She was not only beautiful and kind, but also the smartest girl he had ever met. 

At the sound of the bell, Owen frowned and adjusted in his seat. He waited for Claire to fix her things and apologize to the teacher as Mr Weaver gave her her phone back. 

“Hi.” He smiled, fixing his backpack over his shoulder. 

“Hi.” Claire offered lightly as she passed by his desk. 

Owen stood up and walked next to her out of the classroom, their fingers lightly brushing against each other, both their hearts thumping loudly while sparks exploded between their touch. 

“Umm… see ya.” He offered sweetly before they parted ways. They didn’t have the same class next.

“Bye.” Claire sighed, unable to keep her eyes away from him.

The redhead found her locker and started changing books, completely unaware of the bright smile she was sporting. Her iPhone once again buzzed in her pocket: she squealed, reading it was a text message from Owen, asking if she wanted to meet by the bleachers after school: she obviously agreed. 

 

* * *

 

“Okay. Bye.” Claire bluntly voiced out after standing in silence with her group of friends for a couple of seconds.

She had completely missed how all eyes were on her, almost as if they were hoping for her to remember their plans for the afternoon. “Um...no?” Zara called. “You said we could study History with you today.” She took the lead and reminded her of it.

“Oh.” Claire whimpered quietly before she looked around. “I can’t today, I’m sorry guys.” She frowned apologetically.

They all sighed, once again Sam being the only one who didn’t complain.

“I took on someone’s tutoring today because they had some personal stuff...so yeah.” She rubbed her arm.

“Okay.” They shrugged.

“I’ll see you later, though.” She pulled on Sam’s sleeve and smiled lightly. He nodded and pecked her lips. Claire barely reciprocated, but it went unnoticed by her friends and even Sam. 

After one apologetic chuckle, Claire turned around and went back inside the building, leaving her friends behind working on a plan B so they could get some studying started even without her. 

Owen had managed to stay out of trouble that day, avoiding detention just so he could meet with Claire after class like they had agreed.

He made it there before her: they didn’t have practice that day, so the football field was empty. He walked up the bleachers to the third row and waited for Claire there. 

After fetching a cigarette from his backpack, Owen looked up and smiled when he saw her make it to the field. He watched her walk by and tilted his head once she kept walking ahead. “Claire!” He called out the moment her foot stepped on the boarder line. 

She blushed, realizing she had lost any sense of her surroundings while lost in the butterflies going crazy in her tummy. 

Claire turned around and walked up the bleachers, meeting him in the third row. “Hi...” She bit on her lower lip, dropping the backpack down next to his and setting her books on the bench. 

“Hey...” He smiled, rolling the cigarette in his fingers while his eyes were lovingly fixed on hers.

She frowned and, reaching out, took the cigarette away from him and broke it in two before throwing it away. “That stuff is bad for you.” She stated, “Plus, I wouldn’t want to kiss you when your breath tastes like smoke.” 

“Huh...” He smiled, already setting his mind up to quit, just for her. He reached out and pulled her closer by her waist. “Your kisses are enough of a reason to stop.” He promised, tilting his head up, Claire slowly straddling his lap and hugging his neck before their lips met.

The moment she felt the fuel of their kiss, Claire melted in his arms. Unable to get enough, she slowly let the tip of her tongue slip into his mouth, deepening the kiss. 

Owen found his hands sliding under her jacket and her sweater, the rough texture of his finger pads brushing against the soft feeling of her skin awaking goosebumps in Claire. She nipped on his lower lip, the way he was moving his hand against her back making her leaned closer. 

He was able to make her see fireworks while their tongues danced together, her hands returning the gesture and caressing his firm chest over his shirt. Claire was already familiar with the images of how firm and bulky his pectorals were, but still couldn’t get enough of it.

“I want to figure out a way to be with you.” Owen admitted with a light murmur against her lips, her fingers lovingly brushing his curls back while their foreheads rested against each other and they exchanged a peck.

The way their eyes met and sparkled, let each other know that he wasn’t just trying to get his way with her, and she wasn’t just looking for a fling. It had been so sudden, but it was intense and they both knew and felt it was real and impossible to ignore. 

“I just want to be held by you and kissed by you...only you.” She agreed with a gulp. She pecked his lips and closed her eyes tightly, her heart beating fast, she couldn’t get enough of him. 

“I guess I’m really your dirty little secret huh?” Owen teased her before intertwining fingers with both their hands. 

She sighed and pursing her lips she nodded. She parted her lips with a frown between her brows.

“Hey, I said I didn’t mind, remember? As long as you are with me, I don’t care how.” He assured her. 

“I’m with you, one hundred percent.” She promised, which was a little oxymoronic. Owen smiled and let their fingers play together, liking the sound of that. “Kiss me...” She murmured, brushing her lips against his, closing her eyes as he did as told. 

Claire was letting her heart and her hormones getting the best of her, feeling how the combination of his hand holding her neck firmly and him taking the lead of the kiss — something she wasn’t used to — was threatening to gift him with a moan. She pulled back and breathed in deep, swallowing it before he could hear it. 

He smiled and pecked her lips a couple of times, which only made her capture his lips one last time and continue their make out session for a few minutes. 

“I have to go.” She frowned between pecks. “My mom is waiting for me.” She explained. 

Owen nodded, understanding. “Can I text you though?” He asked before they found themselves kissing again. 

Claire stood up and fixed her backpack over her shoulders. “Yes...of course.” She nodded, “Sam is coming over to study but I’ll let you know when he is there.” She explained. 

“Alright.” Owen stood up after her and took her books. She kissed him again, pulling on his jersey and curving her body against his.

“Okay I have to go now.” She giggled as they exchanged some pecks. 

“I’ll walk you to the entrance.” He offered, before wrapping one arm around her waist and pulling her close to him, kissing her fully. 

“Can’t do, my mom is waiting for me there.” She shook her head and took her books from him. She smiled and let their eyes meet for a couple seconds before she kissed him one last time. “Bye Owen.” She blushed and headed to the exit. 

“Bye...” He smiled back and, grabbing his backpack, he fixed it over his shoulder. He watched her walk out of the bleachers, and jumping over the railing, he caught up with her. 

She giggled, feeling how he turned her around and kissed her again; she hugged his neck tightly and curved her body against his as they shared a warm loving kiss. 

 

* * *

 

As she promised, Claire told Owen via text when she wouldn’t be available to reply, and he agreed to not text her while she was with her boyfriend. 

Sam and Claire were in her room, studying for that history test. Her parents were completely comfortable with both teens lying on her bed while they went through her notes. They blindly trusted their daughter and knew the male teen well: he respected their daughter and them, so he would never do anything to offend them. 

“I love that I still got to study with you.” Sam smiled, flirting lightly. Claire was on her belly, her legs bent up while she wiggled her feet. “The others are so jealous, but those are the perks of being your boyfriend.” He said proudly. 

“Huh...” She cleared her throat and looked down to her notebook. She nibbled on her lower lip. 

“Are you ready for the pop quiz?” He asked, tilting his head, and fetched the flash cards he had made. They usually worked on them together, but she had already failed to do more than three, since she couldn’t stop thinking about Owen. 

Claire sighed, and after a second, lshe made eye contact with Sam and nodded, “Yeah...you ask first.” She agreed. She was very good at hiding the fact that she had spent the past couple of hours daydreaming about the school bully, but still failed to work and answer every question and trivia correctly. 

“In what year did a Supreme Court decision order the end of segregation?” Sam asked while smiling at her. 

Green eyes grew big: she honestly had no idea. Claire rubbed the back of her neck while his blue eyes were fixed on her. “Wait I know this!” She smiled and tried to think. “Um….nineteen..sixty—“ She stopped, seeing her boyfriend shaking his head. “Forty—” he shook his head again. “Fifty—” he nodded, “Two?” She took a wild guess. 

“Nope. Nineteen fifty-four.” She had missed her random answer by two years, but it was evident she didn’t know the answer.

“Ah.” She nodded. 

“C’mon, Claire Bear, you know this stuff!” He reached out and rested his hand on hers, making her look down as he took it in his. “You are always so good with dates.” He reminded her. 

She sighed and nodded, she knew that. Claire just didn’t feel like studying at the moment. All she wanted was to be with Owen. “I just have a headache.” She lied. Another lie. She had lost count of how many times she had lied to Sam in the past few days. 

“Do you want me to go get you a Tylenol?” He offered sweetly while caressing the back of her hand with his thumb, like he usually did. 

“No. I’m okay, thanks.” She smiled, “But maybe we can continue some other time? I want to head to bed early today.” She suggested. 

Sam nodded and slowly stood up. Claire closed their books and put hers away while he stored his in his backpack. He held her hand and let her walk him to the door. 

“Goodnight Eleanor.” He offered to Claire’s mom, who was in the kitchen still, “once again, thank you for dinner, it was delicious.” He smiled. “My favorite was that lemon pie.” 

“Do you want to take a slice with you?” Eleanor offered, not waiting for an answer before she cut him one and served it in a Tupperware so he could take it home safely in his backpack. 

“Thank you.” He smiled. 

“Anytime, Sam. Goodnight.” She nodded.

The teens found Claire’s dad in the living room; Sam and the elder man exchanged a handshake before the boy offered a goodnight. 

Claire opened the door for her boyfriend and smiled at him. “Goodnight, I’ll see you tomorrow.” She offered. 

He nodded, smiling back at her. He leaned close for a kiss, only to find Claire offering her cheek. She waved goodbye while he got on his bicycle and closed the door behind her once he was out of the property. 

Claire casually walked past her dad, but halfway up the stairs, she started running up to her room, where she closed the door and jumped onto her bed, fetching her phone. 

 _Guess what?_ She didn’t lose a second to text Owen. 

 _Seeing your name pop up on my phone screen makes me grin like an idiot._ He confessed, texting her back the moment he got the notification.

Claire squealed on her bed after reading his disclosure. The two of them spent the rest of the night texting until they fell asleep, making it the first night of many when they would wake up with a dead cellphone under their butt the following morning. 


	4. Chapter 4

There wasn’t anything that felt more comfortable and cozy than Owen’s Raptors jacket. Every time when they met, Owen gave it to her; outside school, Claire was his girl and that was his way of marking his territory. Besides, it was winter and he wanted her to stay warm, too. 

Both teenagers had taken on the routine to meet at the playground a block away from her house. She’d get on his bike and they would ride up to his favorite place. The small cliff was no longer a place where only he could be himself, but it was now a spot where they could be together without anyone around to catch them and judge them. 

Owen ran his arm around her shoulder and held her possessively to him, kissing her lips with want as they sat on their bench overlooking the town. Claire’s fingers pulled at his shirt, letting him know she liked it when he claimed her, not only with his body language but also with the way he kissed her. 

“You are mine...” Owen stated while pecking her lips a couple of times. 

Claire sighed softly and kissed him back each time, “I am...” She assured him. “In my mind, I’m your girl.” 

Owen grinned and sighed. “I wish I could show you off, let the whole school know that my girl is the smartest and the prettiest.” 

Claire frowned and nibbled on her lower lip. “It really means a lot that you are willing to keep us a secret.” She was honest, “I will end it with Sam and I’ll be with you not only here but everywhere, I promise.” A sense of rush in her voice. 

“Hey, take your time...as long as I have you I’ll wait.” Owen ran his fingers down her cheek. 

“You are cold.” She frowned, she was wearing her own sweater and jacket under the football one he had offered, and he was only in his shirt.

“Don’t you dare take it off, I’m fine.” He insisted, watching her take his freezing hands in hers and get them warm. They both cuddled on the bench, his arms holding her tight. 

“Am I going to see you in class today?” Claire asked casually, their fingers rubbing against each other while slowly getting warmer. 

“You know I haven’t missed a class with you since we got together.” He smiled, reassuring her that he would be there. 

“We only have two classes together today.” She tilted her head, “What about the other four?” 

Owen shrugged, “I don’t care about the other four.” 

Claire pursed her lips and nuzzled into his neck, “I would really like if we got to do our senior year together.” She knew she was manipulating him, but it was for a good cause.

Owen looked down and sighed. “I’m already flunking out.” He pouted at the sad look in her eyes once she met his, “I’m sorry.” 

“I know you can still pass.” She smiled faintly, “I know you can do it, if you set your mind to it.”

Owen nodded and nudged her lightly. “Are you going to help me catch up?” He offered. The first thing that had made him like her so much was her genuine confidence in him. 

Claire smiled, and adjusting, she hugged his waist. “Yes. I’ll help you with homework and studying.” She promised.

“Okay.” He pecked her lips gently, promising to focus more on his grades and try move to senior year with her. “Under one condition...” He offered.

“What?” She flirted. 

“That you will try not be so stressed about yours.” He tilted his head, “That if you have a project due in two weeks you will wait until three days before it’s due to work on it, that if you don’t have to really study for a test, you just won’t.” 

“What do you mean?” She frowned, “That I should loosen up a bit?” 

Owen nodded. 

She sighed and pursed her lips. “Alright. You have a deal.” She offered her hand so they could shake on it. Owen took it and brought it to his lips. 

As usual, they spent thirty minutes on the bench before heading to school, where he would drop her about half a block ahead. Claire took the jacket off and handed it over. Owen loved spending the rest of the day with the scent of her vanilla lotion on it and the lingering smell of her perfume. 

“You know, even if we can barely talk in school, I’m still your girl there too.” She smiled lovingly before feeling his arms around her waist. She wiggled lightly, and tilting her head up, Claire welcomed the kiss he was offering. 

“Mine.” He nodded, his hand steady behind her neck before they kissed a couple of times. “See you in class.” He smiled, and pecking her lips one more time, Owen let her start walking. He gave her five minutes ahead before he made his bike roar and rode it to school. 

Claire was already with her friends and Sam at the entrance when they heard Owen’s bike making noise as he rode by them, on his way to his parking space. Every girl swooned at how badass he was, Zara rolling her eyes. 

 

* * *

 

Claire and Sam had agreed to meet by her locker so they could head to the cafeteria together and meet their friends for lunch. The boy greeted his girlfriend with a light peck and, holding her hand, they headed over to the cafeteria. 

There, they joined their friends in line, all five of them sliding their tray down the counter while they got served. 

Once they reached the end, they headed all together over to their table. It was on their way there that Claire’s eyes didn’t miss Owen walking in with his three friends. She looked down and smiled to herself.

“I’ll be right back, I’ll go get some napkins.” She wrinkled her nose. She set her tray on the table and was ready to head back to the lunch counter, when Sam stopped her.

“I’ll go get them for you, Claire Bear.” He also set his tray on the table. 

“It’s fine.” She insisted.

Sam wouldn’t have it, and left her sighing at the table with the rest of the group. Claire rolled her eyes and sat down, her back to the table, her eyes casually making eye contact with Owen from afar. 

The jock offered her a smirk, but his attention got stolen from her the moment he saw Sam standing in front of him. Owen was quite taller, and definitely bigger, as he stood in Sam’s way over to the napkins. 

Sam tried to walk past him but Owen kept blocking him, his buddies laughing behind him. The blonde guy challenged him with a devilish grin, trying to see if he could outsmart him and find a way to walk around him. 

Owen chuckled. “What is it, McFly? There’s plenty of room to walk by.” He laughed. Owen’s eyes casually looked up towards Claire, teeth sinking into her lower lip, witnessing the scene they were causing.

The fact that he had stolen this loser’s girlfriend made him feel even more entitled to humiliate him, in ways he hadn’t before. 

“Where are you heading anyways?” He wondered. “To the restroom so you can powder your sweaty balls?” Owen laughed, the tables around echoing. “Look at you shaking, you probably already crapped your pants.” 

“If there’s someone who can’t control themselves, that’s you.” Sam babbled, trying to offer a comeback that wasn’t just horrible but will probably cost him a purple eye. “I’m getting my girlfriend some napkins.” He added, answering a question that hadn’t really required him to reply.

Owen frowned, hating the sound of those words. That was _his_ girl Sam was referring to, and he couldn’t do anything about it except reminding him that she wasn’t really his. He shook his head, “Alright.” He swung to the side, leaving the space between tables free for him to walk. 

Owen’s buddies were disappointed that he was letting this four-eyed loser get away with it just like that: a feeling that didn’t last long. 

Sam fixed his glasses, and at the moment he took his first step, Owen threw all his weight to swing back in front of him, his chest puffed out, making Sam lose his balance trying to avoid bumping into him, and falling on his ass. 

Claire snorted at the sight of her boyfriend clumsily falling down, and covered her mouth trying not to laugh, all three of her friends staring at her and shaking their head, confused as to why she’d find that funny. 

The whole cafeteria laughed while Sam tried to compose himself. Owen snatched a few napkins from other students’ trays on the nearby table, and leaping over Sam, who was still on the floor, he walked past Claire’s table and left the napkins there. 

After lunch, Claire headed to History class, neither of her friends bringing up the humiliation Sam had just suffered; instead, they all went on with their day like it hadn’t happened. “See you around.” She waved her friends as she walked in, Sam wearing a deep frown, unable to shake off the embarrassment.

He walked into the classroom with his girlfriend and left her books on her usual desk in the front row before he could leave to his next class. 

“Thank you.” She smiled pitifully, watching him nod his head. Claire would usually reassure him and tell him not to pay attention to those bullies, and a part of him was waiting for that. She always made him feel better. “Um...I’m sorry for what happened.” She looked down. She wanted to add so much more to her words but it didn’t flow out of her. “You don’t deserve any of this—that.” 

“It’s okay.” He shrugged. 

Claire nodded, “I’ll see you around.” She rubbed her arm and let Sam peck her lips gently before he headed out to go back to class.

Once Sam was gone, she sighed. Claire looked around and casually grabbed her books and her backpack and moved to a desk on the back. She found the one by the window empty and decided to sit there: that way, she could text with Owen during class without getting caught like that time in Math a couple of weeks back. 

Claire smiled bright the moment her iPhone lit up showing a notification from Owen. She opened their conversation to see he had sent her a rose emoji. 

She giggled, _Thank you. It’s beautiful._  

_Welcome. There’s more to come._ He teased. 

Claire tried to keep her giggling low now that the teacher had made it to class. She sent him a kiss emoji next. 

_Thank you. I can’t get enough of em._ He confessed. 

_You are welcome. There are more to come._ She flirted back. 

Owen sent her a heart-eyed emoji. _Do you have plans for today after school?_

Claire tried to keep her attention shifting between class and her iPhone, still taking notes, glad she was a great multitasker. _No, not really. Wanna change that?_

_I was wondering if you’d like to come back to my place after school? Maybe we can do homework together, cook something, I don’t know._ He offered.

Claire left him on read for a couple of minutes. She knew how he was always home alone until very late at night, when his parents both made it back from work. She blushed once she realized she wanted to go. _Okay. Pick me up at our usual spot?_  

Once Owen agreed, Claire moved to her iMessage conversation with Karen, so her sister could hopefully cover up for her. The redhead asked her to tell their mom that Claire would be late for dinner since she would be tutoring a friend. Karen agreed to do it after Claire’s promise to fill her in on what was really going on, once she made it home. 

The teen smiled to herself, and putting her cellphone away, she payed attention to the last ten minutes of class.

 

* * *

 

Owen happened to be a great cook, and had made sure her tummy was happy after cooking them some great pasta. They were now on his bed, doing their homework like Claire had promised she’d help him with. They were both on their stomach, their toes playing against each other while their ankles where tangled, their legs bent up. 

Owen had been tracing the freckles in her arm, getting familiar with them now that she was without a jacket. She was drawing doodles on his skin, giggling. 

She had studied with Sam many times in her bedroom, on her bed, but that was never a distraction factor. However, this time around, it didn’t take long before she ended up resting her head on his pillows with Owen cuddled by her side while they made out. 

Both of them got lost in the moment, letting their lips kiss soundly and passionately. Claire slowly started to pant fast, her body reacting to his. She adjusted her legs almost completely under his frame, feeling him semi-hard. 

That’s the most she had felt from Sam when they had let their make out sessions get carried away. The most she had done was some innocent foreplay, her breasts familiar with the feeling of having two hands massaging them. Her boyfriend only got that far twice, and both times had been over her top. 

For the first time since their first kiss, Claire let Owen hear her moan. The way his rough hands were traveling under her top made her feel tickles between her legs, her hormones waking up and getting in sync with his. 

The way he kissed her, sucking on her lips and tasting every inch of her tongue, made her pull him closer, her fingers curled around the fabric of his shirt. 

Claire parted her lips and gasped, feeling his hands cupping her breasts and softly massaging them. He adjusted and growled when the redhead mirrored his action and let her fingers travel down his shirt, exploring every muscle under it. 

“Wait...” She gulped, finally stopping him as he was trying to pull her top over her head. 

Owen slowly pulled back and let his hazel eyes fall on hers; she was panting, trying to catch her breath while he pecked her lips a couple of times. 

“I—I um...I haven’t really done it before.” She blushed at the confession. 

Owen was taken aback, “But you have a boyfriend.” He added that last part with a little bitterness. 

“Yeah but...”

“Haven’t you two been together for ages?” He sat up after she did. 

Claire reached out and let her fingers caress his chest over his shirt. “We...decided we were going to wait.” She shrugged.

Owen scuffed, “What a wuss.” He couldn’t believe that guy. 

“We agreed we would wait for the perfect moment and not rush it.” She explained. “But see...” she gulped, “I think I found my perfect moment. Here, with you.” She blushed. 

Owen moved his sight back up from his fingers to make eye contact with her and smiled softly. 

She gulped, her fingers shy, and trembling a little, as she pulled his shirt off over his head and threw it to the side. “It was never meant to happen with him…it had to be you.” She nibbled on her lip, feeling him lean close and kiss her softly and lovingly. 

Owen gently removed her top and, hugging his arms around her back, he unclasped her bra. Claire blushed: this was the first time anyone was seeing her naked. 

“You are beautiful.” He assured her. “I would never do anything to hurt you.” He added, kissing her deeply, adjusting over on top of her. 

Claire nodded. She knew the first time stung like hell.

After kissing a couple of more times, they both agreed to get naked. The sight of his full erection was intimidating, but at the same time very arousing. Claire gulped, understanding why they used those thick tall bananas in Sex Ed when teaching them how to put a condom on. 

Claire moaned, feeling the tip of his cock parting her folds as he positioned himself. He was keeping all his weight over one arm while on top of her. 

Claire started panting fast at the anticipation. “Just relax...” He murmured, kissing her lips a couple of times. Owen nuzzled against her neck, paying attention to her breathing and how she was slowly loosening up. 

He groaned at the warm sensation, feeling her walls sucking him in as he pushed one third of his dick into her hole. Claire tilted her head back, releasing a cry of pain. His lips ready to reassure her as he kissed her gently. Her hands holding his sides. 

Once her breathing slowed down again, he pushed deeper, his cock getting buried inside her tight pussy. Claire kept her legs parted, with him between them. 

She was whining lightly, his lips kissing her forehead tenderly. Owen found her hands and let their fingers intertwine. He smiled against her lips and kissed her lovingly, slowly pushing his full length inside of her, a loud cry filling his room. 

“You feel so good...” He assured her, letting her know she was doing it okay. “I can’t wait for you to go past this and understand what I mean.” He teased. 

She chuckled in a gulp and nodded her head. Owen was careful when he pulled back, feeling the dense texture of the little blood, confirming what he had just taken, on the head of his cock. 

He shifted and, adjusting her legs, he leaned over for another kiss. “You are mine.” He grinned.

She gulped, “Yours...” there was no one else she’d have let take her, aside from Owen. 

“No one else gets to touch you but me.” He demanded. 

Claire nodded, unable to add anything before he started pushing inside of her. She sobbed in pain, but never once asked him to stop. 

The whimpering that Claire was releasing was in sync with Owen’s tender thrusting, slowly morphing into moans of pleasure. She was starting to enjoy the feeling of his thick shaft making love to her, the pain slowly vanishing. 

Owen smiled, their eyes lovingly linked with one another. She couldn’t believe she was in his bedroom, having sex with him, everything else she had going on — like the fact that her boyfriend had no idea of what was going on and that the girl he had been dating for over a year had slipped away — was pushed deep in the back of her mind. 

For the next half an hour there was nothing in the world but the two of them, letting each other know how good it felt to be connected in such an intimate way.

Owen had been with four different girls before Claire, and this was the first time he was making love. The feeling of her soft dripping walls engulfing his shaft was intoxicating. They both knew this was the first time of many. 

They kissed, feeling their breathing increasing. Claire closed her eyes and moaned when Owen shifted their pace. 

“You are not going to stop any time soon, are you?” Claire managed to wonder, feeling how her body was starting to ask for more. She felt desperation building up. It was like a choking sensation, but instead of being in her throat, it was between her legs.

Owen was panting, wanting to go fast and hard but he wanted to keep it gentle throughout her first time, only allowing her to feel him deep. “No, babe.” He promised, holding it for her. 

Claire couldn’t keep going, but at the same time she didn’t want to stop, slowly experiencing her first orgasm. She started begging him to finish her. Owen asked her to let go, but she didn’t know how. 

He took that as a green light before he started going harder on her, still making love. He also increased the speed. He smiled against her lips, feeling her gasping. Claire tensed, her hips rolling against his for a couple of times until she finally felt a warm, wet wave of pleasure sliding out of her. 

Owen let her release bring him to his, and growling against her neck, he filled her with his seed. 

He shifted and pulled a blanket over them to cover her blushed body while she recovered. Her messy hair was all over his pillow, her hand on her heart, feeling it beat loudly. 

Owen spooned her and kissed her cheek from behind. “How are you feeling?” He asked her, peppering her sweaty neck. 

“Happy.” She giggled, feeling his fingers lacing with her as he nuzzled close. 

“Can you stay for a little while before I take you home?” He asked. 

Claire nodded, and turning over, she smiled, tilting her head up to share a loving kiss. 

 

* * *

 

“Here.” Claire took his jacket off once they made it to the playground. 

He shook his head. “I’m picking you up here tomorrow, keep it. You can give it back before school.” He suggested. 

Claire nodded and nuzzled into it. “Alright. See you tomorrow.” She curved her body against his, Owen leaning over his bike. They kissed for a few seconds before he let her go home, she was already running later than she said she’d be. 

Claire ran home. She took the Raptors jacket off and put it inside her backpack before she walked in. 

“Where were you, Claire? You have a phone for a reason! If you were going to be late, you could have called and let us know!” Eleanor started. 

She hadn’t checked her phone since she and Owen had made it to his house. She pulled it out and noticed the couple of missed calls as well as a few texts from Sam. 

“I’m sorry.” She offered and started walking upstairs, but her dad stopped her. 

“Your mother asked you a question, Claire.” Robert demanded an answer. 

“I offered to tutor a friend of Zara’s, I left my backpack in the living room and didn’t have my phone with me. I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.” She frowned.

“You had us worried sick.” Her parents nodded. 

“I thought Karen had told you I’d be with a friend.” She shrugged before she slowly turned around and headed to her room.

She sat on her bed for a few minutes, her brain starting to cool off as she chuckled at how smooth and spontaneous she had been with that small lie she had given her parents. For someone who hadn’t lied once in her life, she seemed to be really good at it. 

Claire took a shower and changed into her pajamas before going back and joining her family for dinner. They all wanted to know about her tutoring that day, which wasn’t anything new. But it was starting to bother her: what could have been so exciting about tutoring lessons that they had to hear all about it twice a week? 

Claire changed Owen’s name to a random girl’s and told them about what they did, leaving a lot of details out and adding the stuff they never got to. 

Once Claire managed to excuse herself, she motioned for her sister to meet her upstairs. She was going to keep her promise for the deal and tell her everything.

Karen snuck into Claire’s bedroom, where she found her little sister staring at her cellphone. She was reading Sam’s messages, trying to figure out what to reply to him, finding herself unwilling to talk to her boyfriend. 

“So I did go to a friend’s house to tutor him.” She blushed. 

Karen tilted her head, experienced enough to know this was more than a friend, if Claire of all people felt the need to lie about it.

“Okay. He is more than a friend.” The redhead admitted when she saw the look in her sister’s eyes. “And I think I’m falling for him.” She bit on her lower lip, unable to hide the smile it brought to her. “I’ve never been kissed like that, Karen. He is amazing and handsome.”

Karen was taken aback for a moment, Claire was giving her too much information without letting her process. “Hun, you know I think is great you are finally feeling like this, but what about Sam?” 

Claire sighed. She knew her big sister would support her and not judge her. Today had been so perfect that she would have hated to have her mood ruined if she were to point out how she was straight out cheating on her boyfriend. 

“I know I have to tell him. He deserves to know, but I don’t want to hurt him.” Claire knew she should have broken up with him the moment she had started feeling attracted to Owen.

“I think it’s a little too late for that.” Karen offered. 

“I know.” Claire frowned and looked down to her hands. 

“You know, I noticed you’ve been smiling more. I’m glad he makes you happy.” Karen nodded before she nudged her sister and stood up. 

“Also…today, when I was helping him with homework? Well... we…um…that happened.” 

Karen closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she turned around. “Oh...” 

“It was perfect. It was my perfect moment and I’m not sorry it had nothing to do with Sam.” She shrugged.

The blonde nodded. She thought Sam was the sweetest of guys and she was already feeling sorry for him, since at some point he would be dumped by his long term girlfriend, and he didn’t deserve this. However, she knew that kid simply wasn’t right for Claire. He would make the perfect boyfriend to a different girl, but he was too dull and passive for her. It was just a matter of time before Claire got bored; she just never thought she would cheat like this. 

“If you need anything or have any questions, let me know.” That was all Karen could offer as she still processed all this. “You are going on the pill though. I’ll get an appointment for you.” She offered. 

“Thanks.” 

Karen nodded. “So, who is this incredible guy who managed to woo you?” 

“Owen…Grady.” Claire winced, anticipating Karen’s reaction.

“Claire?” She shook her head, “You should know better than—”

“He is sweet and kind. He is very smart and he makes sure I have everything I need. He is so protective and he makes me see stars just by the way he holds me tight and kisses me.” 

Karen nodded. She knew Claire had a very good people judgement. 

“He is nothing like people say he is.” She assured her. “Have you ever felt safe, and like you can conquer the world because you have a guy who backs you up and is strong enough to lift you up?” 

“I believe you.” Her sister nodded, chuckling lightly at Claire’s smitten declarations. If she didn’t know they were talking about the infamous bully, Karen would swear her sister had found the type of man she needed. 

Claire smiled. 

“If you pursue something serious with him, you’ll have to tell mom and dad at some point, and you better start one of your charts and whatnot on how to build them up to the news.” 

The redhead frowned. 

“You know they don’t like him one bit, so try not to screw up before they warm up to the idea of you dating him.” Karen explained.

“I won’t.” Claire promised. 

Karen nodded and reached for the door.

“Thank you.” Claire smiled.

Karen sighed. “Please, find a way to tell Sam soon.” 

Claire looked down at her cellphone, her conversation with him still open. “I will.” 

Karen smiled faintly, and stepping out of the bedroom, she closed the door behind her. 

Claire closed her conversation with Sam and switched to the one with Owen, so they could talk a little bit before she got ready for bed. 


	5. Chapter 5

Never had Owen been nervous about a grade. It wasn’t much about the score for him, but the fact that he didn’t want to disappoint Claire. He was sitting in his math class, waiting for Mr Weaver to hand their tests back. It was the first one they had taken after winter break, one he and Claire had spent hours and hours studying together for. Owen needed at least a B- so he could get back on track and slowly save the subject from flunking. 

“Congratulations Ms Dearing.” The teacher handed her test over. She smiled softly at it and caught her lower lip between her teeth. The teacher kept walking through the lines handing tests back. 

It was the sound of her giggling that made the teacher look back. Owen had now taken on the tendency to sit right behind Claire in the classes they had together. He was using his pencil to play with her hair and it was making the redhead blush. 

“Very well done, Mr Grady.” The teacher nodded, “I’m proud of you, son.” He offered genuinely and handed him the test. This marked the first time Owen heard a teacher, or a grown up, say those words.

Claire cleared her throat and casually turned to see what he had gotten. He showed her the paper with a beaming grin: he had scored a B, which was slightly higher than the goal they had set. 

Claire smiled back, her eyes full of pride. “I told you you could do it.” She murmured softly before she turned back around. Her curiosity about his grade was not the only one, since Mr Weaver’s congratulations had the entire classroom curious. 

Once the bell rang, both teens started gathering their things together slowly, watching the rest of the students walk out just so they could have a couple of seconds.

“So what do you have next?” Owen wondered while adjusting his backpack, now heavy with books. 

Claire blushed and hugged her books tightly against her chest, “that Sex Ed thing that’s going on today.” She shrugged. 

The principal had agreed to let Planned Parenthood take a period of each student’s day so they could have a little panel for the student body to ask them questions they may have about sex that they didn’t feel comfortable asking a parent or a teacher. Each period had students of all grades, from freshmen to seniors. 

“Me too.” He nodded with a light smile. 

“No you don’t!” She nudged him before they walked out of the classroom. 

Owen chuckled and showed her the schedule so she could see he wasn’t lying. “Do you want to walk there together?” He asked softly, he didn’t give a fuck who saw him talking to her.

“Yeah sure.” She nodded while looking at her shoes. “I just need to stop by my locker first.” Claire had yet to break up with a boyfriend she was neglecting, an inner battle still going on inside of her. She was very conscious that she was hurting Sam with her actions, even if he didn’t see them or knew about them, and yet the idea of hurting him was what kept her from breaking up with him. 

“Hey!” Zara greeted her friend at the door of their next period, a sigh leaving Claire when she realized she wouldn’t get away with casually sitting next to Owen now that her best friend was there.

Owen and the other girl exchanged a nod, the atmosphere tense around them. Claire was tired of hiding him, and reaching back, she brushed her fingers along his wrist, letting him know she didn’t want him to just leave — which was something Zara was expecting to happen. 

“Hi.” Claire finally smiled. 

“What are you doing?” Zara tilted her head, her eyes on Owen, obviously asking about him and not just Claire’s whereabouts.

“Her locker was stuck and I helped her open it.” Owen shrugged. “You have a problem with that?” He wondered, letting the other girl know he could read her looks and he didn’t give a fuck what she thought.

“You sure it wasn’t you who stuck it in the first place?” Zara was standing tall in front of him. Owen didn’t intimidate her like he did the rest of their group.

“Anyways, I see my buddy is already in there so.” He motioned towards Barry and slipped between Claire and the doorframe as he headed in to sit with him.

“What’s with the B?” Barry immediately laughed, eyeing the score in the corner of his test poking out from his book. 

“You got an A- so shut the fuck up, nerd.” Owen frowned, and folding his test, he put his books on the tray under his desk. His eyes followed Claire and Zara, who were looking for a couple of desks. 

“Oh I get it... you are getting private study time with Dearing.” Barry laughed. “That explains your sudden dry out for skirts.”

“Shut up”

“Man, I’m just saying. She’s hot and all, but isn’t she with that asthmatic nerd? And she’s a nerd herself, too. Boriiiiing.”

“I said shut up, fuck face!” 

The Planned Parenthood people started passing them sheets with a few general questions. “Remember, this is completely anonymous — all we need is your age and gender. There are no right or wrong answers.” They explained while handing their questionary; they wanted to try to have an idea of the number of students who were sexually active, so the school could provide them with the required assistance and education.

It was a multiple choice form, all they had to do was fill some squares with the answer according to their sexual experience. The first question was the obvious one: a yes/no answer was required when asked if they had had sexual intercourse before, and if the answer was no, if they had thought or talked about doing it any time soon. Claire filled the ‘yes’ square with her pen. 

She kept going down the questions, one of them asking how many sexual partners they had had so far, her answer being one. When asked how long she’d been sexually active she answered a couple of months, and that her last time had been within a week. When it came to contraception method of choice, Claire filled for birth control pills, which she took strictly every day at the same time. Karen had made her set up a reminder on her iPhone so she would never forget. 

“Miss Young, this is a personal form, there’s no need to be trying to peek on what the other person is writing.” The P.E. teacher called Zara out. She wondering what was taking Claire so long to fill a form that people without any sexual experience would finish in seconds — her included. 

Claire looked up from her paper and casually tried to cover it with her arm. She was grateful Zara didn’t mention it throughout lunch, even when the boys kept talking about it, Sam confirming that he was still a virgin, making Zara confused. The girl shook her head: maybe she was reading too much into what had her best friend being so concentrated.

The special visitors had made the entire student body talk and joke about sex. Travis and Barry took it too far, bringing up how the entire football team had small or big penises. 

“I heard Owen’s pee-pee shrunk during winter break!” They started to push him around, messing with him as they walked with their trays over to their usual table. 

Claire made eye contact with him and frowned at how upset he looked with his buddies. 

“That’s why you don’t have sex anymore, huh? You are too small!” They knew this was not true, but it was their way of pressuring him into confessing what they knew: he had gotten himself an exclusive pussy, which was lame. 

The jock didn’t fail to smile at the redhead, reassuring her before they kept messing with him. “Even at my shortest I’m still bigger than you two virgins!” Owen snapped. 

“Someone take out a ruler, lets find out!” Travis challenged. 

“Bitch, you know I would!” Owen assured him. 

“Let’s see it then.” Barry encouraged the already fuming teen, who took the challenge, hopping on the table.

The whole cafeteria had their attention in the group of four, the room filled with gasps. Every single girl had her jaw on the floor, including Vivian and Zara who, couldn’t believe that the rumors were true and Owen was -almost- as thick and as long as one coke can on top of another. 

Every girl gasped, except the five who were already familiar with it — two of them were cheerleaders, one was in the volleyball team, the other one was part of the track team, and Claire, who was looking down on her tray blushing, pretending she was distracted by the book in her hands.

Zara nudged Claire, who tried to look completely taken out of her concentration. “Hmm?” She hummed. 

“What do you mean ‘hmm’?” She motioned over to Owen, who was now zipping his jeans back up and being dragged to the principal’s office. 

“I’ll be right back, I have to go bleach my corneas and live forever frustrated.” Lowery offered before he took his tray and left. 

“Hold on, I’m going with you! I need to throw up.” Vivian added, following him.

Claire shrugged, not too good at this, especially to her best friend, who knew her too well. 

“Oh my god!” Zara gasped and started shaking her head, “No... it can’t be. Is that why it was taking you so long to—please tell me you didn’t!”

“Zara, come on!” Claire begged between her teeth, slightly motioning towards Sam who was sitting on her other side. 

“I hope that doesn’t give you nightmares.” He laughed, clueless as to why Zara was losing her composure, thinking it was just the trauma of what they had just seen.

Claire chuckled nervously. 

“I promise I’d meet my lab partner for a few minutes before our presentation, so I have to bail too.” Sam added before he kissed Claire’s cheek, the girl just nodding back. 

“Have you lost your mind?!” Claire hissed. 

“No! But you clearly did!” Zara gasped. “So?” She wondered. 

“So what?” Claire stood up, she wanted to be around when Owen was out of the principal’s office, see if he was in too much trouble. “I have to go.” She added, walking to the trashcan.

“He is suddenly getting good grades and doesn’t spend so much time in detention.” Zara started to point out the few things she had gathered together so far. “And it all happened since that time you ‘exchanged three words with him’.” She air-quoted. 

Claire sighed, “I’ve been tutoring him, alright? What’s wrong with that?” She rolled her eyes, “It’s not like I have a saying in who I help in the program.” Claire hurried her step, making it clear that she didn’t want to discuss this.

 

* * *

 

Claire wasn’t only lying to her parents about her whereabouts when she was with Owen, but was starting to break some house rules too, taking advantage of the trust both Eleanor and Robert had in her. 

All her life, Claire had been only about her grades, and the first boy she ever brought home was one both her parents trusted blindly, and so they didn’t really kept a tab on what she was up to while at home. After dinner, she would go up to her room and her parents wouldn’t disturb her. They knew she’d be probably doing homework or studying. The only rule she had was that she couldn’t lock the door — this more for safety than anything else. 

Claire and Owen, becoming inseparable, had worked on a plan so they could spend the nights together. He would park his bike at the playground, and at the signal that she was in her room for the night, he would climb up the tree up to her window. 

His girl was waiting for him with the most adorable pajamas on and her hair braided. Owen kissed her lips lovingly and closed the window behind them. 

For the past six weeks, Owen had been spending the night over: they talked, they kissed, some nights they made love, and just cuddled all night long. 

“Did you get in a lot of trouble?” The circumstance had made it impossible for them to talk until later that night, when they had agreed to spending the night over as usual. 

“Nah. I just have detention for the rest of my life.” He brushed it off, “I’m sorry.” He frowned, brushing his fingers down her cheeks lovingly. 

“It’s okay. We will figure something out.” She assured him. Not getting detention meant Owen was free to spend some time in the afternoon with her at their little cliff, except for the days she had tutoring and he practice — this semester Claire scheduled hers on those specific days, so they could still see each other while she waited for her lift. 

Owen slowly let his lips taste hers, wrapping his arms around her waist. Claire immediately melted in his embrace, letting the smacking sound of their kiss fill her room. 

Those days when they had missed each other too much, they just cuddled in her bed, which always triggered a cute little argument between them: Claire wanted to be under her sheets and Owen wanted to stay on top of them. 

“But if you stay on top, we can’t snuggle!” She gave him big puppy eyes and a cute little pout.

Owen laughed, adjusting next to her, still over her cover while he let his fingers brush her cheek gently. “Two can play that game you know?” He pecked her lips, and pulling back, he offered a pout. 

“Mmmm, no. That doesn’t do anything to me.” Claire shook her head, pulling the sheets hard from under him and tossing them to the side. “But those curls, though.” She murmured, running her fingers through them. 

Now that she was able to hold him, she shifted and rested her head over his chest, breathing calmly and smiling happily. 

“So when do you start your driving lessons?” He wondered, his fingers playing with the ends of her hair. 

“Next week, but I don’t want to!” Claire admitted. She wasn’t the kind to confess she was scared or incapable of doing something. However, Owen had made her feel safe from the moment they first exchanged words, and she didn’t mind being vulnerable around him. 

Owen adjusted and managed to find a way to keep her head close to him, his fingers undoing her loose braid so he could redo it.  

“Why not? It’s easy.” He kissed her forehead, “Plus...you can do anything.” He smiled. 

“I tried to back my dad’s car once and it shut off halfway down the driveway.” She scoffed, driving in reverse was supposed to be the easiest in a manual gear shift. 

Owen chuckled while picturing that, his fingers done with her braid. He nuzzled their noses together and pecked her lips a couple of times. “I can bring my car to school on Thursday and take you to practice.” He offered. 

“Really!?” 

“Yeah. By your first class, your instructor would just sign your permit and be done with you!” He assured her, unable to get enough of her lips.

“What about practice and tutoring?” Claire offered a pair of loving eyes. 

“Practice afternoons are the only days I don’t have detention, so we can sneak out of those.” He figured. 

Claire nodded lightly with a frown.

“I don’t want to get you into trouble though, babe.”

“No. I wanna do this.” She assured him with a nod and a soft kiss on his lips. 

Owen smiled and nodded back, both of them shifting on her bed. He pulled the sheets over them and adjusted. Claire lay back against her pillow, feeling him wrapping his arms around her, sheltering her and keeping her safe in his embrace. 

He smiled and kissed her cheek a couple of times, feeling her so close to him. Claire nibbled on her lower lip, enjoying the way she felt in his arms. She tilted her face and they exchanged a couple of pecks before drifting to sleep. 

The sound of her alarm clock woke them up, like every day. After fighting the need to stay in bed for a little longer, they finally walked hand in hand to her window, and with a loving kiss, he climbed down as always. 

It wasn’t until she saw him running out of the property across the street that Claire would go downstairs for breakfast and start her usual daily routine.

 

* * *

 

Just like agreed, both Owen and Claire ditched practice and tutoring respectively. The jock had driven them to an abandoned building with an equally abandoned parking lot a few miles away from school. There was some weed growing around, the building had some broken windows and it was filled with graffiti.

“Oh, didn’t this building burn a couple of years ago?” Claire remembered the tragedy had been in the news. A complete loss, the structure no longer in state to be refurbished. 

“Yeah. It was a building with offices or something.” He shrugged and turned his car off. It wasn’t the latest model, but an old blue 1995 Nissan Sentra. Owen took good care of it though, and it was in better condition than many people’s cars.

Claire bit her lip and cleaned her sweaty hands against her skirt before she pulled on the sleeves of the Raptors jacket she wore at all times when not in school or at home. 

“Alright, babe.” He smiled, seeing she was nervous. He held her tight from behind her neck and kissed her hard. “Let’s switch.” He unbuckled his seatbelt, Claire mirroring his action before they walked around the car and she got behind the wheel. 

The first ten minutes saw Claire shutting the car off every time she tried to release the clutch and have the car move. They were practicing that until she finally seemed to get it. 

Then, they went about changing gears and driving around, letting her figure out when was the right moment to switch from first gear to second. 

“I told you, you can do everything!” Owen reassured her. Claire proudly driving around. 

“You are amazing.” She smiled, grateful that he seemed to have a lot of patience with her, and didn’t get frustrated or screamed at her once. They kissed a couple of times before he asked her to turn the car off and start it up and take off slowly. 

Claire was now screaming her lungs out, — not even people in a rollercoaster would be this terrified — now that Owen was once again behind the wheel. 

He was laughing, tires screeching against the concrete while Claire was just starting to have fun; he was doing donuts with the car around the parking lot. 

Soon, her screaming turned into laughter. He braked and turned to look at her. Claire was panting fast, still holding onto the handle, trying to calm her heart from beating so loud. 

Owen chuckled and leaned over, pecking her lips a couple of times, Claire ran her fingers down his cheek and kissed him fully, the sound of her moans filling the car as their tongues started to dance together. 

They let their lips smack against each other for a few seconds before he moved to her neck, his fingers moving her hair to the other side to have more access.

Owen noticed how Claire was starting to lean closer, wanting more contact, and gently pulled back. They fixed their gaze on each other and with a light blush, Claire quietly agreed to what Owen was asking with his eyes. She still had an hour to kill before being expected back home, and her hormones were going wild.

The boy pulled away and found a more secluded area. Once he turned the car off, Owen pulled the driver’s seat back and tilted back the backrest. Claire carefully shifted around and managed to sit on his lap.

She pressed her forehead against his and smiled lovingly before they resumed their kissing. By now, Owen already knew how to work her up. Just like they both had answered on that stupid PP form, they were as sexually active as a pair of rabbits. 

His hand was slowly running against the warmth of her inner thigh. The way she was pulling at his lower lip let him know she liked that. She whimpered when his fingers reached between her legs and he massaged her softly at first. 

He pulled back, letting his eyes stare into hers lovingly before he kissed down her throat and around her collarbone. 

Owen groaned, feeling how tight his jeans were around his bulge now. Claire adjusted and allowed her fingers to undo them. She smiled softly, looking at it while pulling them down along with his briefs. She giggled when his erection sprang out. 

Their foreheads were resting against each other while she bit her lip, her eyes still on it as she blushed. 

“I want you to touch it, please...” He breathed.

Before that afternoon, they were always making love either on his bed after school or on hers at night. He had only taken her in the usual missionary position. 

“I want to touch it too.” She gulped, feeling the way his fingers were taking hers and guiding them down to his shaft. 

Claire blushed and gulped lightly, her soft finger pads brushing the tip gently and slowly, her green eyes fixed on each expression his face made. Owen tilted his head back and groaned, tilting his hips up against her touch. 

Their lips slowly kissed, her fingers still shy but able to harden him fully, desperate for more, subconsciously teasing him. Owen kept kissing her sweetly, feeling her other hand brushing through his curls while his own worked on pulling her panties down.

Claire giggled against his lips as she bent her legs around until he managed to pull her underwear off her ankles. 

“Can I keep them?” He begged gently, pushing them into the front pocket of the pants he had down mid thighs. 

Claire nodded, now reaching up with both her hands and cupping his cheeks. Owen gulped and adjusted his legs for her to slowly turn around and sit on his lap, for them to make love like that.

His hands took the initiative to slowly pull her skirt up, his fingers brushing up her creamy thighs as he did. Claire was breathing fast, a little nervous now that they were trying something new. 

She tilted her head back against his shoulder, feeling his loving lips reassuring her. His hands traveled up under her top while he rolled his hips up and slowly started to penetrate her from behind. 

Claire gasped, nuzzling along his cheek at how good it felt to have him buried deeply inside of her like that. His fingers pinched her nipples through her bra before he unclasped it and let it hang loose from her arms with all the access he could dream to have granted. 

He moaned into the back of her neck and started to nibble at her porcelain skin, their hips following a steady, hard, deep, but slow pace that had them both releasing noises of pleasure. 

Claire quickly swung back and forth against him, requesting for more. She tilted her head over her shoulder and captured his lips with hers, kissing him soundly. She slowly realized she was the one to control the pace in this position, as her body would subconsciously grow desperate and speed up. 

Their tongues kept tasting each other, his fingers squeezing those soft, warm breasts while she kept going fast; at some point Owen took ahold of her hips and helped her with the bouncing so he could thrust in and out of her with speed and roughly. 

The sound of her being loud when she couldn’t get enough, and how desperate her kisses became, was what truly pulled Owen into starting to ride his orgasm up along with hers. 

Owen was letting his tongue play with her earlobe from behind, the way he was grunting and panting her name was released straight to her ear, letting her know she was wanted and she was great at this. That the connection they had while having sex went beyond physical for both of them. 

She started whimpering and gulping while calling his name, she was almost there. “I need more, god, please...” She begged, it felt like a little kid who was at the edge of the pool hesitating to dive in, needing that extra push. 

Owen’s answer came from his fingers when he slid one hand between her legs, the other one keeping her skirt up against her abdomen as he held her close, fucking her the deepest he could while rolling his hips up against her ass. 

Claire started screaming, feeling his fingers rubbing hard against the most sensitive nub in her body: he was panting, almost crying going hard when he couldn’t anymore, desperate to fill her with his want for her. 

“Fuck...!” The redhead cried, feeling her release falling against him, leaning back and resting on his chest, completely collapsing. The swollen tip of his cock spit into her, before he let it tease her a little bit on its way out of her. 

 

* * *

 

Back at the playground, Owen pulled over against the sideway and met her around by the passenger’s door. He trapped her against the car and his body and he clipped the buttons of her jacket close, it was cold outside and she had a block to walk home. 

Claire hugged him gently and tilted her head up, kissing him lovingly. His lips were soft against hers. 

“Thank you for the lesson.” She smiled. 

Owen nodded, his hazel eyes set on her green ones. He kissed her again, keeping the gesture tender and taking his time to taste every corner of her lips.

Their foreheads pressed together, his fingers playing with the ends of her hair as she adjusted her backpack over her shoulders. 

“See you tonight?” She wanted to confirm if he would be spending the night as usual. Owen was lost in his thoughts, making her tilt her head in wonder. “Baby?” She smiled softly. 

“I love you.” He admitted bluntly. 

Claire’s green eyes went big at the confession, but they were still gentle on his. She parted her lips to talk but he interrupted her.

“I’m sorry. You are probably still saying that kind of stuff to him. I shouldn’t...” He felt his heart breaking at the thought of that. 

“I’m not!” Claire immediately interrupted him. “I haven’t in a while now.” She assured him. “I love you, only you.” Claire could feel her knees trembling under her skirt, remembering that she was commando. 

“Yeah?” Owen frowned.

“I haven’t told him that since we met and I don’t love him anymore...” she gulped. “I’m in love with you.” She blushed. Owen lifted her up and kissed her lovingly, a big grin in his lips. 

“I’ll see you tonight.” He agreed to her question. “Bye, baby.” He kissed her one last time before she started walking home.

At the door, Claire took the Raptors jacket off, and after folding it, she put it in her backpack. 

When she opened the door to her house, the smile she was displaying turned into a frown. 

“Hi.” She tilted her head, seeing her boyfriend sitting there with her parents. This was starting to annoy her, she was starting to find everything about Sam slightly too much, and the fact that her parents were constantly kissing his ass was driving her nuts. 

“Where were you!?” Eleanor stood up, Claire standing by the shadows in the hall. 

“Out.” She stated the obvious with a condescending tone. 

Karen came down the stairs shaking her head, reminding her that she had to try not to screw up if she wanted to eventually be able to bring her guy home at some point. 

“You were supposed to meet with Sam after tutoring but you weren’t there! That was two and a half hours ago! Where were you?” Her mother was worried. 

“You had us worried sick, young lady. This is the second time this has happened!” Robert reminded her. 

Claire blushed, realizing her being late was due to the fact that Owen and her had taken some time to have sex. “The kid I was tutoring could only do an hour so I went for a walk.” She shrugged. 

She slowly pulled her cellphone out of her backpack. The missed calls and Sam’s text messages on the lock screen. “I didn’t have a signal there. I just got them.” She showed them the screen so they could see she wasn’t lying (about that).

“This is getting out of hand, Claire! You are pulling off this behavior where you don’t answer or check in? Your grades have been dropping slightly, which is UNACCEPTABLE.” Her dad pointed out.

“Ugh.” She crossed her arms against her chest. Claire had neglected some of her subjects since she had been helping Owen to catch up on his. “It’s not like it matters.” She rolled her eyes, “I’m still passing.” 

Eleanor gasped, her hand on her chest, not believing what she was saying. Robert was not having any of this. “We don’t tolerate mediocrity in this household!” 

“What are you going to do? Kick me out!?” Claire was not in the mood, and was starting to lose her temper. “Go ahead! See how that looks to your snob friends at the club.” She challenged, the frustration that she was in love with a boy they would never accept, was starting to subconsciously hurt her.

“Claire!” Eleanor called out. 

“I don’t care anymore. I don’t understand why I can’t do something that makes me happy for once without you ruining it because you didn’t know where I was for a couple of hours! I’m not ten anymore!” 

Sam quietly witnessed the whole thing, a little alarmed: he had never seen his girlfriend like this. 

“And what are you even doing here!?” She was now releasing her frustration on Sam. “This is weird and kinda creepy! So I forgot about your existence for a second there and what do you do? Run to my parents and bust me out?” She chuckled, “You know, maybe I would have needed you to go looking for me, stand up for me FOR ONCE.” She frowned. 

“Claire!” Eleanor called a second time. 

“Coming to mommy and daddy to whine because you don’t know where your ‘girlfriend’ is...” She used air-quotes, which went completely unnoticed. “How pathetic. Just go home, Sam. Leave, please. This doesn’t concern you.” 

“Claire Dearing! Don’t you talk to us like that, we are your parents and you are going to respect us.” Robert demanded. “Or your boyfriend! He was worried and he thought we needed to be aware you were not answering.” Eleanor added.

Claire rolled her eyes, “I’m going to bed.” She stormed off up stairs and slammed the door to her bedroom loud enough that it was hearable downstairs. 

She curled up on her bed, and grabbing her iPhone, she texted Owen. She couldn’t wait for him to climb into her window and shelter her in his arms through the night. Her room was feeling oddly cold, so she fetched her backpack and put his jacket on; she nuzzled into it, letting his scent calm her down while they exchanged texts. 


	6. Chapter 6

With spring just around the corner, Owen was spending more time in the field that in a detention classroom. The Raptors had the most important game of the season coming up, and if they won they would become Best in the League, a title they had lost a few years back. Since Owen had become captain and had been given the quarterback position, the team was gaining potential to get that title back. 

Training sessions were tough and they were mandatory. That day, Claire had ended her tutoring lesson earlier just so she could go sit on the bleachers and watch Owen in action. 

She secretly loved the way he looked all sweaty and the way he fanned himself with his shirt. She giggled to herself, eyeing the pattern of his perfect six pack. He looked over and smiled at her from the field. The fact that she was watching only made Owen push himself to do his best and impress her.

Claire found her books and notes and decided to study while she waited for him to finish practice. She had a very important English test coming in a couple of weeks and she hadn’t studied at all for it. Her impeccable record of only As had slowly dropped to also getting a few Bs, and today she had been taken aback after doing poorly in a test for the first time in her life. 

She found her chemistry test with a red C marked on the corner and just folded it before she pushed it down her backpack. She didn’t care what happened to that paper, the fact that she had failed her standards was something she didn’t want to be reminded of. She was also trying to erase from her mind the confusing looks her friends and Sam were giving her about it. It was like they hadn’t seen a stupid C before in their lives. 

Claire got quickly focused on her notes and concentrated on answering the different pop quizzes that came with their worksheets. 

Soon, training was over and the team ran off to the dressing room to shower and change, Owen staying behind while the coach talked to him for a few minutes. The jock’s attention was on the beautiful redhead on the bleachers. He smiled to himself, he couldn’t get enough of how cute she looked when concentrated on her reading. 

Owen started running up the bleachers taking two steps at a time and beamed once he had his girl in front of him. He sat next to her and nudged her playfully. He was panting and his curls were dripping. 

Claire squealed the moment their knees brushed against each other, her green eyes melting once they made eye contact with his hazel ones. 

“It’s water.” He chuckled, just so she wouldn’t get grossed out at how it dripped down his cheeks and onto his lap. 

Claire blushed, “I like it when you are all sweaty.” She confessed using her pencil to push back the curls over his forehead. 

“Yeah?” He panted still catching his breath. “So you won’t mind if I kiss you with a sticky jersey and smelling a little?” Owen teased, not really waiting for an answer. 

The way her hands ran up under his jersey, feeling every inch of his muscles, assured him that she didn’t mind one bit, their lips kissing gently but hungrily. She left a couple of pecks on his lips as they pulled back. 

“I saw your coach called you to the side. Is everything okay?” Claire asked casually while putting her stuff back into her backpack. Her file case crumbled the chemistry test she had shoved in earlier, as she tried to push it down. 

“Yeah.” He nodded. “He said a few colleges have approached him, interested in offering me a scholarship but.. you know.” He shrugged. The coach had been honest with the recruiters: Owen’s academic record wasn’t the best, in fact he was hanging by a thread before failing Junior year just like he had done with the previous two. 

Claire frowned and nodded. 

“It’s okay babe, it’s not like I’m thinking of going to college anyways.” Owen brushed his fingers down her hair. Claire got a disappointed look in her eyes, making him frown. 

Claire was quiet for a moment and slowly hugged his waist, nuzzling into his shoulder. 

“What about you? How are you hanging?” He wondered. He was probably the only one who knew that C had really gotten to her. She had acted around her friends like it wasn’t the end of the world, but inside, she wanted to die. 

“Ugh. I don’t want to talk about it.” She shook her head. 

“I feel a little guilty though.” Owen held her waist gently and pulled her up to sit on his lap, his hands quick to sneak under her dress and gently massage her legs. 

“You keep me from being able to concentrate, so it’s totally your fault!” She teased. Owen chuckled before his lips nibbled on her chin and he moaned, taking in that fresh scent of vanilla on her skin. 

The only reason why Claire wasn’t losing her mind at how her grades kept dropping was because Owen’s were rising. She didn’t mind sacrificing hers a little in order to focus on him and save his year, but that stupid C was mocking her. 

Claire decided to focus on something else; the blush displayed on her cheeks let Owen know her mind was somewhere else. He could feel her shiver as his fingers kept caressing the creamy flesh of her legs.

Their lips kissed hungrily: the tip of her tongue was the one to start deepening the kiss. Claire once again moved her fingers under his jersey, moaning at how firm those muscles were, while melting against him. 

Owen adjusted, feeling his body slowly reacting to the way they were kissing and the warmth of her thighs against his fingers, plus, her hands roaming up his abdomen didn’t help. 

His fingers got curious: he wanted to know if she was into the moment as much a him. Claire could feel his semi-hard-on against her thigh. She whimpered at his thumb pressing between her legs over her panties, making her pull back. 

He smiled mischievously watching her gulp, the cutest of blushes warming her cheeks. They soon closed their eyes and let their tongues engage in an intimate dance, both pair of hands curious. 

The way Claire was moaning into their kiss enabled Owen to slide his hands all the way up under her dress, brushing his pads up and down her thighs and hips. It was taking a lot for him not to pull those soft panties down, but he knew better and was aware they were already pushing the limits of decency. 

It was the sound of her iPhone going off that made them break the kiss; Owen pulled his hands out of her dress and hugged her waist, his lips peppering sweet kisses down her neck. 

Claire was panting lightly; she rolled her eyes after reading who was calling. Owen didn’t need to know more, it was obvious it was Sam. 

His girl talking to that guy just made him get possessive, hungrily nibbling on her neck and her ear while she agreed to meet Sam at the front. Claire had forgotten he had offered to pick her up after tutoring and lied — something that already came natural to her — letting him know she was with a teacher and would be out soon. 

It had taken a lot of concentration not to moan over the phone and forget how to talk while Owen kept paying attention to her flesh and leaving kisses against it. 

“I have to go.” Claire wrinkled her nose once she hung up, her arms wrapping around his neck. 

After Sam went whining to her parents about her not being there that other day a few weeks back, the couple had been more careful so Owen understood it wasn’t about her running to him the moment the nerd called, but because he was a snitch and a loser.

Or did he?

“One second, I’m not done...” Owen murmured, his hands cupping her breasts and massaging them though her dress while he pulled her closer against him, Claire still on his lap. 

The redhead closed her eyes and moaned, her hands pulling him closer, asking for more. 

“Mine...” Owen mumbled, nibbling firmly at one spot on her neck. “Let that loser know I said you are mine.” He demanded.

Claire whimpered, feeling him suck on her skin. “Babe, come on...” she pulled back. “You know I won’t be able to cover that.” She brushed her fingers against the spot, he hadn’t been able to leave a mark yet. 

“That’s the point” Owen leaned closer but Claire pulled back. 

“I’d get in so much trouble!” She scolded him a little. 

Owen sighed. He nodded, and holding the back of her neck tightly, he kissed her hard. 

“See you tonight after dinner...” She blushed, “We can finish what we started here.” She flirted.

Owen nodded and pecked her lips a couple of times, helping her leave his lap. He watched her run down the bleachers and head back to the building. It was time for a cold shower. 

 

* * *

 

There’s wasn’t a specific amount of showers that could calm Owen that day. He had spent the rest of the afternoon all worked up, impatiently waiting for her 8PM text to let him know she was in her room after dinner and he could climb up her window. 

Claire had been left wanting more: after feeling his thumb against her panties, there had been no turning back from that. She spent dinner trying not to seem in a hurry, and once she announced she was going to her room for the night, she texted Owen. 

The couple started kissing once Owen got in her room and both the window and the door where closed. Claire was the first one to show rush: she was quick to pull his shirt over his head and throw it to the side. 

She let her fingers dance on his naked chest, a moan escaping her lips, feeling him bring his hands under her pajama top. Claire slowly pulled him against her as she backed towards the bed. 

The smacking of their lips kissing was the only sound filling her room, her feet adjusting while their legs shifted. The two teens were desperate to feel the other so intimately, getting to the point rather quickly. The thrusts Owen started injecting inside of her were not enough, though. 

He broke the kiss to grunt and let his lips linger down her throat. Claire was panting fast, her hands sliding down his sweaty back. She found his naked ass and cupped each of his butt cheeks, wanting to feel him deeper. 

“Owen...” She squealed. When in her room and with her parents home, he always let her muffle her screams and loud moans into his mouth, so she was calling out for him to bring his lips up from her neck and help her with that. 

“You feel so good, baby...” Owen held the upper side of her body tight against him, his hips rolling hard against her. 

Claire kept swallowing her need to scream his name. She kept her legs spread open around him, trapping him between them as she felt his length and thickness going in and out of her. 

“Please...” She begged, panting, shutting her eyes as she felt his lips against her sweaty forehead. Their lips tasted all the desire and adoration for each other as they kissed. 

“I’m almost there… god...almost there.” He reassured her, hiding his face in her neck, their bodies in sync as they kept making love. 

“Owen...” She whimpered, crying for him to bring her to her release, desperate to feel that intense rush of pleasure coming down on her. 

Both of them worked to build the other up and lead them to the peak of their climax as their hips moved in symphony.

Claire curved her body against his, and as she reached her orgasm, she couldn’t help releasing a high pitched cry. Owen’s lips were on hers in a heartbeat, muffling the sound once it echoed around them.

Owen groaned against the crook of her neck as he emptied himself inside her tight folds. He collapsed beside Claire and pulled her close into his embrace. 

They both smiled and kissed lovingly, letting their lungs and hearts catch up with them. 

Owen jumped and Claire gasped at the sudden sound of the bedroom door being opened. Her release had echoed not only against her bedroom walls, but also through the hallway, and both her parents had rushed upstairs to make sure she was okay. 

“CLAIRE!” Eleanor gasped, covering her mouth with her hands.  

At his attempt at getting away from Claire, Owen fell off of the bed. It was a good thing that his boxers were on that side, so he managed to put them on. 

“YOU HAVE FIVE MINUTES TO GET DRESSED. We need to talk.” Robert announced, leaving his daughter with the sheets up to her nose and Owen with his hands up in the air while hiding behind the bed. 

Claire started panting and kicking the covers out of the way. She went looking for her underwear. “I can’t find them!” She was panicking. 

Owen looked under the bed, they weren’t there. Claire threw her pillows and sheets around looking for them. 

He poked his head out from under the bed to find her naked and freaking out. 

“DON’T LOOK!” She thew a pillow at him. 

“I’ve seen you naked many times, baby!” He reminded her. Owen crawled on the bed towards her and let her curl against him. 

“I’m so dead.” She sobbed. She had no idea what her parents were gonna tell her or do to her, but she knew it wouldn’t be good. “You should go.” She frowned. 

“No way.” Owen was firm on that. “I’m not leaving you alone. I’m not bailing on you.” He frowned and kissed her forehead softly. 

Owen handed her the panties once he found them and she quickly slipped them on. She grabbed her pajamas, and unable to put them on on her own, Owen helped her out. Those shaky fingers of hers weren’t helping at all. 

Claire was shaking and pale, Owen had never been busted by parents like this, but then again, he had never been this intimate with a girl and it had never been in the girl’s bedroom when he slept with them. 

He held her close in his embrace, reassuring her that everything would be okay. She clung to him at the sound of the door being opened, and Owen protectively kept her close. 

“Living room. Now!” Robert demanded now that both kids were dressed. 

“I’ve never seen him like this before.” Claire sniffed. She wished Karen was around just to have someone to stand by them, but her older sister had gone out with her fiancé that night.

Once in the living room, both Claire and Eleanor were crying uncontrollably. Claire felt completely sick to her stomach, with a painful pressure on her chest. Her mom was completely humiliated, not believing this kind of behavior coming from her daughter. 

Robert, on the other hand, had been yelling at both teenagers, upset and disappointed. Owen kept an arm around Claire’s shoulder, letting his body language speak for him: he was serious about Claire and would stay by her side no matter what. 

“Get your hands off my daughter before I call your parents and the police!” Robert ordered, fuming. “Stay away from her!” He snapped at the boy to move to the other end of the couch across from Claire.

Claire’s broken green eyes watched Owen move to the seat he was ordered to take, his hands on his lap and his eyes on Robert: he was not scared of him, but he was doing this for Claire. 

“What were you thinking!? You have a boyfriend! You have a future! You were raised to accomplish greatness. And we find you in bed...with some guy... and this guy of all people!” Robert was disgusted. “Are you trying to kill us?” 

“What’s wrong with Owen!? You don’t know him! I’m tired of you being so dismissive of him like that.” Claire had had enough. For the past months she had to swallow her pain and her aggravation every time they brought him into conversation out of nowhere, just to talk badly about him. 

Owen fixed his eyes on Claire and, shaking his head, he let her know that it was okay and she needed to stay calm. But she was unable to stop crying. 

“We trusted you blindly and gave you all the freedom you could get, and this is how you repay us? By sneaking this boy into your bedroom?” Eleanor shook her head. Claire sobbing into her hands. “When was your first time?” She just had to know, at least she could find some comfort in finding out her daughter had lost her virginity to a nice guy like Sam.

“About… four months ago.” Claire sniffed. Eleanor going pale, regretting even asking. “To Owen.” She confessed in a whisper. “We became friends before that and we just clicked.” Claire tried to explain between her sobs, “I love him mom, please can you be happy for me? He makes me feel safe.” Her eyes were looking at her mom full of vulnerability. “He is nothing like what you think.” She whimpered.

“I love her too” Owen jumped in. “I really do.” He assured them. “I’m—”

“Don’t you talk unless you are asked to! And don’t you dare come near my house or my daughter ever again! If I see you in here one more time... I’ll shoot you out!” Robert threatened him. “Are you aware of what you are doing, young lady? Not only to this family and how you have disrespected us, but also to yourself! He is a bad influence and your grades keep dropping, and do you realise how you’re treating Sam!?” 

Claire kept sobbing heavy tears, feeling them flowing down her cheeks, “I know it’s not fair to Sam but I don’t love him anymore!” She yelled, sure her parents wouldn’t understand that; they had no idea of what made her happy, and they certainly didn’t care to find out, either. 

“And because you don’t love him anymore that makes it okay to CHEAT on him? Claire, you are having SEX with another guy behind his back.” 

The teenager gasped at those words, so much for calling her a slut and making her feel awful. “It’s my life! I can do as I please with it. I’m old enough to know who I love and who I don’t. Who I want to be with and who I don’t.” Claire cried loud.

“If you don’t want to be with Sam anymore, so be it! But you have to tell him and you are doing it the moment we are done here!” Robert demanded. 

“I’ll break up with him when I feel like it. It’s my relationship, not yours! Just like this is my relationship with Owen and you have no saying on it!” Claire spat, tired of this. She didn’t care anymore. 

“It might be your relationship, but this is my house, and you are living under this roof, under my rules!” Robert stood up from his seat, Owen immediately following. It was a protective instinct reaction. “Since you are already on your feet, get out!!” Robert requested. “And I mean it young man, I don’t want to see you around my property or my daughter ever again!” 

Claire’s eyes were on Owen as he breathed fast and loud. Once Robert was back from the door after making sure he was gone, he went back to his daughter. “You are grounded. Go upstairs and leave your laptop and your iPhone on this table. If you want us to consider giving you your privileges back, you will pick your grades back up, and you are going to prove to us that you are back to being yourself.” Robert explained, “And from tomorrow until further notice, I’ll be the one dropping you at school and picking you up.” 

“Who says I’m not being myself!? I hate you! I hate both of you for ruining the best thing that’s ever happened to me! All you care about is your precious status among your friends, you don’t care about me or what makes me happy!” Claire ran up the stairs to her room once she had tossed her iPhone onto the table. “I HATE YOU!” She called out one last time from the stairs.

 

* * *

 

Claire and Owen had taken a trip back to elementary school: they would sneak notes under the desk to talk. She had told him about her punishment and they had agreed to come up with suggestions on how to meet at school between classes. 

The only good side Claire saw in all this was that now that she was grounded, she could breathe and have some space away from Sam. She really needed a moment to think on how to approach him and just break up with him — she told him she had gotten grounded because of the C she had gotten in Chemistry. 

Claire and Owen said goodbye from afar, both missing each other terribly, and sad that they couldn’t spend the afternoon together. 

Claire was already waiting for her dad sitting on the stairs up to the entrance when he pulled over. Owen was by his bike behind a tree, keeping her company even if a few feet away. 

Green and hazel made contact one last time before Claire stood up and got in the car. Claire buckled up and stayed quiet for the whole drive home. 

She didn’t wait for her dad to fully come to a stop before she got out of the car and headed upstairs to her room.

“Did you tell her?” Eleanor wondered, a little concerned. Robert just shook his head, Claire’s scream out of anger and frustration let them know she had seen it already. 

Claire was sobbing in her room, both her hands gripping tight onto the window bars her parents had installed in her room. She kept pulling at them, furious. She knew it was impossible to break them, but she didn’t know how else to release her pain and irritation towards her parents. 

This was officially prison.


	7. Chapter 7

The sound of a pebble lightly hitting the window of her bedroom had Claire rushing over to open it. She smiled watching Owen taking a few steps back so they could see each other. The two waved, and after exchanging a heartwarming smile, they frowned. She had been grounded for what felt like years and they missed each other horribly. Claire would sleep with his hoodie on and he would wear it all day the following day to enjoy the sweet scent of her perfume and also so his own scent could be impregnated on it for her to enjoy the following night. On his end, he had one of her stuffed animals to keep him company during those long nights they couldn’t spend together. 

Claire grabbed one of her notebooks and wrote something down before ripping the sheet of paper off. She crumbled it and threw it out of the window between the bars. They had been doing this every night since she had found those bars installed on her window. Owen caught it mid-air and once he read it, he started writing his response. He then used a slingshot to throw it back at her. They would spend hours doing this until she started feeling too sleepy to carry on. 

“Quick, what popular book do the characters Ponyboy, Dally, and Soda Pop come from?” Owen asked her on the sheet of paper they were using that night to chat for a little bit before she went to bed. 

Claire smiled reading the question. She had been studying for that Literature test like crazy and had been able to finally take a breath now that it was past her. It was also the test that would determine the future possibility of her parents giving her back some of her privileges. 

“The Outsiders.” She wrote back. That was not one of the very hard and complex questions on her test, but it was more of an inside tease between the couple. Claire was the kind to read the novel and frown upon movies – especially when they changed so many things, like with this one. 

Owen on the other hand, would never bother to read the book but had watched the film many times. “Which we are watching the moment you are released from prison, yesssss?” Owen replied back once he had gotten the crumbled paper back. 

“Only if you read the book too…” Claire promised before she threw the paper ball back down. She was sitting on the window seat, slightly aggravated that she couldn’t look down beyond those stupid bars. “I miss you…” She pouted while writing.

Owen sighed reading her last note. He looked back up and tried to make contact with her eyes, but they were too far apart. “I wish there was a way you could come to my game next week.” He shot the crumbled paper back to her. 

“I won’t miss it. I promise.” Claire didn’t know how she’d keep her word on that, but she was going to think of something. Of course, even after a few weeks, they still had to come up with a solution to the whole sneaking around and the only time they had were the two classes they had together, and even then, it was just subtle glances and paper notes under the desk. 

Owen smiled faintly reading her determination and pushed the paper into the front pocket of his jeans. Claire kneeled on her cushions and grabbed tight on the bars, watching him start climbing the usual tree. He looked down from the top and gulped: this was where he would usually crawl into her room through the window. Claire reached out, slipping her arm through the bars, and frowned. Owen tried to reach but it was too far off and the branch wouldn’t be able to take his whole weight for too long if he tried to slide closer.

“OWEN!” Claire scolded him, still trying to keep it low when he abruptly swung over and hung from the bars. “God, you are going to kill yourself!!” She tried to hold his wrists as he adjusted.

“I don’t care! I need to kiss you!” He frowned. Claire nodded and the two of them kissed hard through the bars for a few seconds, her hands cupping his face while he tried to keep himself against the window. 

Claire sobbed. She hated this. She just wanted to find a way to sneak him into her bedroom so they could sleep together like they used to.

“I’ll figure out a way to get together, I promise.” He pecked her lips a couple of times. “I love you.” He offered, ready to let himself go, feeling his arms tired and unable to keep holding on. 

“I love you too.” She looked down, making sure he could find a way to land back on her backyard without getting injured. Once he did, he waved at her, letting Claire know he was okay. She blew him a kiss as usual, and with a smile he turned around and trotted back to the playground so he could go back home.

 

* * *

 

Another week had gone by and the couple had yet to figure out a way to have two minutes alone to be with each other. Claire was always either with Zara or Sam would keep following her around. That day, Claire had finally gotten her Literature grade back and it was a full A+. She was hoping the congratulatory note from her teacher all over the front page would be enough for Robert to reconsider her punishment and give her at least her phone back.

Owen was at his locker changing books when he saw her walking into the ladies’ room on her own. Most of the time, he let his instincts control him, and that moment was not different. He started to look around, and slamming his locker closed, he ran across the hall and into the restroom where he found Claire washing her hands.

She blushed and chuckled at how he was panting and pushing his curls back. The other handful of girls in the restroom froze in shock and ran out. Once it was just the two of them alone, he smiled at his girl and took her hands into his.

“Hi…” He offered intertwining their fingers and pulling her close to him. 

“Hey…” She murmured back, closing the space between them. 

“I figured out how to be together for a couple of minutes.” He laughed at the realization that he had just slid into the ladies’ room. He backed over to the door and leaned against it so girls couldn’t push the door open and interrupt them.

Claire nodded and kissed him lovingly, their fingers playing with each other while their tongues danced together. 

“I have to go; my dad is waiting for me.” She frowned after a few minutes of them exchanging kisses. “But I’m hoping my results will soften him a little.” She rolled her eyes.

“Okay…” Owen nodded before holding her tight from behind her neck and pecking her hard a couple of times.

“See you tonight?” She tilted her head and smiled when he nodded. “Bring your slingshot.” She teased, hating that they had to talk like that, but she’d take anything over not talking to him at all.

“Bye, gorgeous.” He smiled and with a soft kiss he moved out of the door and let her walk out, him following after a minute or so.

Claire was at the stairs just in time when her dad pulled over. She had her Literature exam in her hands and just like every day she got in, buckled up, and was quiet the whole ride home. Although today, she slammed the test paper onto the dashboard and let him take it. Every single answer was correct and even had extra information the teacher hadn’t asked for.

The note he had written was praising her in every possible way, highlighting her analytical skills and reading comprehension. She was probably the student with most knowledge in the subject he had ever taught in his ten years as a teacher and was definitely the smartest.

“He is encouraging you to consider Harvard next year.” Robert sobbed. “He is willing to write you a recommendation letter.” 

“You know my dream has always been Yale.” She shrugged like it was no big deal. 

“You still want to go to Yale?” The man smiled softly.

“Yeah?” Claire didn’t know any reason why she would change her mind on that. She wanted to study Poli-Sci and be president of the free world at some point in her life, but she was a realist and her mid-term goal was the senate.

“I just thought that if anything, you’d have different priorities.” Robert couldn’t keep his eyes away from that piece of paper.

Claire sighed. If him lifting her punishment didn’t depend on this conversation, she’d fight him for making this about Owen and their prejudgment against him. “Nothing has changed, I am still me.” She nibbled on her lower lip. She would explain how her neglecting her grades was because she was helping him catch up, but they sure didn’t care.

“You may have your laptop and your cellphone back.” Robert offered.

Claire squealed and hugged him happily, “Thank you, dad.” She smiled and got impatient for them to get home.

Once there, she wiggled waiting for both her devices and ran off to her room. She dropped her backpack by the door and the first thing she did was text Owen to let him know she had her phone back; _I can go to the game!!_ She texted him.

 

* * *

 

On game day, Claire was wearing the school colors and she had her group of friends tagging along. Both Lowery and Vivian weren’t really into the whole spirit, rolling their eyes at how basically the entire student body was there when the jocks wouldn’t care for any of them outside the football field. Zara didn’t mind the game, she was just happy Claire had been interested in going, and Sam just wanted to spend some time with his girlfriend now that she wasn’t grounded anymore.

This was Claire’s first game and even if she had seen Owen practicing a few times, this was different. He was so good, and every pass and play he assembled had all the girls swooning. Claire would scream along with all of them and jump slightly every time he had the ball. 

Owen had spotted her in the crowd already and couldn’t stop smiling, everybody in that field was there to see him and was cheering for him, but at the end of the day, he knew who was the only one who truly was there for him and not for the victory.

In one of their paper notes sessions, Owen had explained the game to her so she could understand it. She was the only one in her group who actually knew what was going on: it wasn’t just a bunch of guys tackling each other every yard.

Owen waved at his girl, which made her squeal. He was beaming under that helmet: he had pointed at her. No one could tell exactly who he was pointing at, but Claire did. The redhead fought really hard not to wave back. 

“TOUCHDOWN!!!” She celebrated with the guy next to her, and started jumping up and down, happy and proud of Owen, butterflies in her tummy flapping, since he had dedicated that to her. The rest of her group clapped and cheered, but she was definitely the most enthusiastic of the bunch.

“What’s gotten into you?” Zara and Vivian wondered. They had never seen her this excited about anything.

“What? You guys know I care about school and this is good for it. You know it’s more than just a trophy and the Raptors being proclaimed the best. It actually brings profit and more money for other stuff.” She shrugged.

“Oh. Right.” They rolled their eyes. “Except it’s always been like that and this is the first game that’s got you all passionate.” 

“I am just happy I’m not grounded anymore, okay? Can a girl live?” Claire rolled her eyes back at them. “Jeez.”

Claire soon went back to ignoring them. Owen was on a roll and kept scoring one touchdown after the other, just to see her going crazy on the bleachers. It was like her energetic cheers were gasoline to him. Every time he looked over at those filled seats, Claire was the only person he could see. He was playing for her and for her only.

Owen managed to score seven more times throughout the first half. Once the referee announced it was time for the break, Owen took his helmet off and ran off to their benches and the first thing he did was text Claire: he had fifteen minutes and they could meet by the restrooms near the janitors’ room. They were closed during games, since they were for teachers only, and no one would be bothering them there.

He gulped half a bottle of water and then poured the rest over him, trying to wash some of his sweat off.

Claire felt her cellphone ping in her purse and smiled at his text message: she looked around and nibbled on her lower lip.

“Hey, do you want some peanuts or something?” Sam nudged her; maybe they could have a quick snack during halftime.

“Um no, thanks. You go ahead.” She shook her head. “I’m going to the restroom, but I’ll be right back.” She offered. Once by the stairs, she started trotting over to the spot where she and Owen had agreed to meet.

Sam brushed off the oddity on Claire taking off the opposite direction. This wouldn’t be the first time she was allowed to use the teacher’s exclusive restroom. She was always using that one outside class hours. 

Owen smiled when Claire came into sight. She ran and threw herself into his arms. Owen lifted her up from her ass under her skirt and squeezed her butt cheeks tight, pinning her against the wall. She moaned, wrapping her legs around him.

“You are so good and so sexy and so amazing and so strong!” She giggled feeling his lips running down her neck. “I’m so proud of you.” She blushed. 

“You think? Every touchdown is for you…just you…” He promised, kissing her lips lovingly. “You and you and you.” He kept pecking her between each word, making her chuckle, his hands happily against her ass, feeling the fabric of her panties while he kept her still and firm against the wall.

Halftime was almost over, and Sam started to look around for his girlfriend. It was starting to feel like she was gone for a long time, even if it had been just less than ten minutes. He figured it was just simply odd she wasn’t back by then, since she had taken a shortcut. He adjusted his glasses and casually went looking for her. 

Sam took the same path he had watched Claire take. His blue eyes grew wide and his heart sank into his stomach at the image of the girl he had been dating for over a year, wrapped around some other guy’s hips while he massaged the back of her thighs and they kissed hungrily against the wall. Never in their relationship had he kissed Claire like that. In that moment, Sam didn’t even care that it was his bully and the guy who terrorized him, but the realization that his girlfriend was cheating on him was the main reason why he felt sick.

Sam turned around and went back to their seats. The other three friends noticed the disappointed frown, but they didn’t say anything. He sat down and just hoped for the stupid game to be over soon so he could get out of there. 

“Hey…” Claire finally met him back and smiled at him, the second half just starting up. “I’m sorry that took forever but the line at the restroom was endless, you can imagine.” She rolled her eyes and tilted her head.

Sam didn’t say anything and just nodded his head. Claire shrugged it off and casually reached out for the peanuts he had in his hands. He snatched the bag away from her. “I got this for me” He said without flinching. “You said you didn’t want any.”

“What?” She tilted her head not believing him. There had been many times before when she had said she didn’t want something and Sam would share with her his, so this was odd from him. Claire reached out again and successfully stole some from him and laughed.

Sam knew she had done that just to annoy him, it was all in her laughter: something he figured was that bully’s influence. He watched her get completely caught up in the game. Now it was obvious how Claire and Owen were lost in a world where it was just the two of them: he kept waving at her and pointing her way, dedicating each touchdown to her and Claire didn’t care about the game or the score at all, just about how he was doing what he liked and impressing her.

“Hey man, are you alright?” Lowery asked, Sam completely lost in his thoughts and his peanuts while his girlfriend hadn’t even noticed he was upset and hurt or asked if he was feeling okay.

“Yeah.” He nodded, looking up at Claire, who kept squealing and wiggling at the quarterback.

 

* * *

 

After the game, Sam took Claire back to her place. He was still a gentleman and he knew the Dearings were counting on him to bring her back home on time and safe. The ride had been dreadfully quiet, but Claire hadn’t even noticed, she was still driving the excitement of the game high in her mind and couldn’t stop thinking about Owen. It wasn’t until Sam killed the engine of his car that she snapped back to reality.

He fixed his blue eyes on her, and the sound of his sigh made her look back at him. She tilted her head, noticing just now that he was upset about something, “What’s wrong?” She asked casually, pushing his hair back.

Sam flinched at her touch and shook his head: a move that alarmed her. Claire gulped softly, noticing how he was tearing up and his eyes looked devastated. “I saw you.” He murmured, his voice cracking up.

Claire frowned and pursed her lips, waiting for him to give more information before she jumped to any conclusions.

“I saw you kissing Owen Grady. I saw you letting him touch you and pin you against the wall.” His voice cracked. He just wanted to push her out of his car: he sure was about to push her out of his life.

“Oh.” She breathed out and felt her heart pounding fast. “Sam, I—” She gulped. She was feeling horrible having to watch him cry in front of her like that. “I was going to tell you after the game today. I just didn’t…I just—”

“You know what is the worst part? That I knew it wasn’t the same, but I didn’t want to admit to myself that I had lost you. I just wanted to believe that somehow things would go back to normal.” He looked down to his hands. “You were my girlfriend, Claire.” He couldn’t believe that of all people she’d do this. 

“Were...” She frowned. 

“Well, you making out with that bully surely means you aren’t with me.” He stated the obvious. “You were just making me believe you were my girlfriend but that was just you playing with me.”

Claire felt a dagger stab right into her gut. “You are right. I should have avoided all this to you, and just be honest with you.” She sobbed. She was feeling like a slut, and that was just at the mention of her kissing another man behind Sam’s back, not to the reality that she was sleeping with someone else too.

“Do you love him?” Sam sobbed, his blue eyes slowly looking up trying to find hers.

Claire sniffed and nodded lightly before she looked down. “You don’t deserve this. I don’t deserve you, you deserve someone better than me.” She was feeling completely unworthy of his kindness and his attention.

“I agree.” Sam nodded coldly and started the engine back up.

Claire gasped quietly taking in how much that hurt. “I’m sorry, Sam.” She sobbed.

“Whatever. I hope he treats you well and you don’t end up regretting this.” He added bitterly before unlocking her door from the controllers.

Claire turned at the sound and, gathering her things, she quietly stepped out of his car. The moment she closed the door behind her he took off, never looking back.

Claire ran off into the house in tears. Both Robert and Eleanor watched their daughter storm upstairs, and after exchanging a look, they decided to let her be and ask her later what had happened. Claire went looking for Karen in her bedroom, who immediately dropped what she was doing and met her by the door to hug. 

“What’s wrong honey?” The elder sister asked, stroking her hair lightly.

“It’s over…he broke up with me. He saw me making out with Owen.” Claire sobbed against her sister’s shoulder and held her close.

“Oh hun…” Karen pouted. 

“I was so horrible to him and I treated him like dirt.” She was upset because of that. Even if she didn’t have any feelings left for him, she still cared about Sam and knew he was an amazing guy who didn’t deserve any of this. “Now everybody in school will know I am a slut.” She cried, afraid to go confront the rest of her schoolmates on Monday.

“Sam is not like that.” Karen assured her, rubbing her back gently. “He won’t go around telling this to everybody. I mean yeah, the breakup news will be inevitable, but couples split for many reasons.” Karen assured her. 

Claire sobbed and fixed her eyes on her sister’s, wanting to believe her. 

“What’s going to happen between you and Owen?” Karen asked lightly. 

“What do you mean?” Claire frowned. “We are okay. We are great. He was so good at the game today!” the redhead smiled softly.

Karen’s purpose was accomplished, making her sister think about something else than what people would think. She sighed, realizing this meant Claire would now openly pursue a relationship with the jock. “I can’t wait to meet him.” She smiled. 

“He likes you.” Claire blushed.

“Oh yeah? How come, he doesn’t even know me.” Karen smiled lightly.

“I told him you understand us.” Claire giggled.

“I promise I am going to help you get mom and dad to accept this okay?” Karen nodded. “I know it’s going to be hard, but they need to understand Owen is the one that makes you happy.”

“Thank you.” Claire hugged her sister close and let her dry her tears off. “I’ll go to my room and talk to him.” She nodded.

“I’ll be here if you need anything.” Karen pushed her sister’s hair back and sighed before the teen left back to her room.

There, Claire started to toss a few things she had that belonged to Sam into a bag so she could give them back to him. There were many things she had already taken down since meeting Owen, like photos they had together or things he had given her. Sam was right, and she had admitted it to Owen many times before: she hadn’t been his girlfriend in months.

Claire dropped the bag next to her bed and crawled on the mattress. She fetched her phone and texted Owen the news. _Sam saw us by the stairs at the game. We broke up._

 _Shit, I’m sorry, babe. I know this is not how you wanted it to happen._ He offered. 

Claire sighed, it really wasn’t. She didn’t know how she wanted it to happen though, each passing day it got harder. _I guess I am single now._  

 _Not for long._ Owen sent back.

Claire smiled and blushed. _Oh, is that so?_

 _That’s changing tonight at 8._ He assured her.

_Tonight at 8._


	8. Chapter 8

The usual tap to her window came exactly at 8PM that night. Claire squealed and looked out the window, holding the bars. Owen was outside with a bright grin on his face. He texted her to meet him in the backyard. Claire knew this was to make things official, just like he had hinted in his previous text messages.

She asked for a few minutes while she figured out a way to sneak out so late, or find a valid excuse to go outside out of the blue. She crawled to the top of the stairs, able to catch a glimpse of both her parents in the living room: they were apparently enjoying a drink and catching up on their reading. This was a good thing, since that left the back of the house unattended.

Claire found her way to the bathroom she shared with Karen upstairs and carefully managed to climb out of the window. Owen was already waiting for her down there. “Let go, babe.” He called out, watching her hesitance about it. 

Claire was holding tight from the edge of the window, trying to look down and get familiar with the place where she would land. She whimpered and gulped, still not sure about letting go.

“I’ll catch you.” He promised. Owen had his arms open, reaching up for Claire to see. He was ready for her whenever she decided to let go. 

“This was stupid.” She cried, trying to go back up, but now that her legs were hanging from outside the window, it was really hard to reach. “Ouch…” She frowned feeling her weight already hurting her arms. 

“At the count of three you let go, okay?” Owen offered.

“Okay…” Claire nodded her head. There was no other way but to let go now.

“One…” He offered, adjusting and making sure he was at the perfect angle and place to catch her. 

“Two….” She gulped.

“Three!” The two of them said at the same time and Claire immediately let go, Owen right in time to catch her in his arms. The giggle she released made him smile.

Once on the ground, Claire fixed her top and tucked her hair behind her ears. Owen took her hand and led her to the tree in front of her room where no one could see them or hear them. He kissed her gently and kept her hands in his.

The two of them smiled and chuckled nervously, before Claire broke eye contact, blushing and looking down. Owen brushed his fingers down her chin, bringing her eyes back to meet his, and pecked her lips lovingly.

“So…” He cleared his throat and Claire giggled and nodded.

“So…” She bit on her lower lip.

“I heard you are recently single.” He offered a cheeky smile; those cute dimples had never looked more adorable to Claire than right now. 

Claire nodded and pursed her lips. “You heard right.” She flirted, their fingers intertwining while they both tried to keep their nerves on check. 

Owen chuckled and gulped softly. He had never had an actual girlfriend before. “Do you want to be mine?” His voice cracked, evident that he was nervous but not hesitant. This was just something he had never asked before, and didn’t know how to do it. 

“…Your girlfriend?” Claire tilted her head with a smile. This was one aspect where she had more experience than he did. She had only had one boyfriend before, but that relationship had lasted almost a year and a half. 

Owen shook his head, “Mine.” He corrected her. “My girlfriend. My one and only. Mine and no one else’s.”

Claire’s green eyes fell on his and she nodded softly. “I’ve been yours since the first moment.” She assured him before he kissed her, happy that Claire was now officially his.

Owen slowly took a step back and pulled his Raptors jersey over his head, leaving his firm abdomen exposed. Claire couldn’t help brushing her fingers down over it, feel how strong he was. Owen quietly helped her into the jersey and pulled it down over her.

“Mine.” He commanded. It was a clean jersey that he wanted her to have aside from his jacket. This one had his last name and number on the back. So, every time people walked past her, they would know who she belonged to.

“Yours.” Claire nodded, closing her eyes as she felt his fingers brushing down her cheeks. Owen cupped her face tenderly and kissed her for a few seconds. 

“So, Monday?” Owen asked while holding both her hands.  

“Monday…” She nodded, agreeing to see him in school.

“Guess what?” He asked pecking her lips a couple of times.

“What?” She smiled.

“I have the most beautiful girlfriend in the world.” Owen beamed.

“And I have the most handsome and amazing boyfriend in the universe.” Claire replied. The two of them exchanged more kisses before she had to go back inside. The window was too high for her to reach, so decided to sneak in from the kitchen.

The house was now dark, her parents had already stood up from the living room and were probably going to settle in their room. Claire took light steps towards the stairs as she chewed on her lip; she knew the moment she hit the stairs it was safe, and she would have gotten away with this.

“Claire?” Robert called out the moment she had put one foot on the first step, her sneaky actions completely shattered. To her luck, it looked like she was going back upstairs from the kitchen.

“Why do you have that filthy jersey on?” Eleanor wondered upon reading the last name on it.

“Because it belongs to my boyfriend. You know… that’s what teens do, I am sure you have watched a movie or two.” Claire explained, crossing her arms against her chest. 

“You should have had it washed first, god knows what you can catch through it.” Her mom dissed. 

“If you are going to be insulting my boyfriend, you should at least get informed first.” Claire rolled her eyes, turned around, and started walking upstairs. 

“You can’t catch poor, but you sure can catch a bad reputation.” Eleanor called out.

“How did Sam take it?” Robert asked casually, both parents had always loved that boy and cared for him as a son. They couldn’t do anything to stop their daughter from breaking up with him, but they were concerned about him.

“I don’t know, since you live up his ass why don’t you call him and ask?” Claire added before heading upstairs.

“Don’t be insolent! We are your parents and you are going to respect us!!” 

The teen slammed the door of her bedroom shut, the noise letting them know her opinion on the matter. If they wanted respect, then they would have to start giving it back. 

After five minutes, the Dearings knocked gently on Claire’s bedroom door. Just like she supposed, they had called Sam to make sure he was okay, and he had shared with them what they were already aware of. Claire was in love with another boy.

They had discussed her attitude too, one she was wearing under her skin lately and they knew wouldn’t go away; something she proved upon answering the knock to her door.

“What?” She groaned. She was not in the mood to be disturbed. 

“Can we come in?” Robert called softly.

“It’s your house.” She offered condescendingly. The Dearings were aware that if they weren’t careful, they might lose their daughter for good. Claire seemed to have made up her mind and picked that boy over anything else.

They found their daughter on her stomach doing some homework with her phone on the right side of her book. A bag with the few things she had for Sam was sitting by the door, so she wouldn’t forget to grab it it on Monday and take it to him.

“We just wanted to make sure everything is okay.” Robert was the one speaking. Eleanor had already managed to upset her by dissing the jersey their daughter had been wearing. 

Claire looked up, and with a sigh she closed her book and sat leg-crossed on her bed. “I’m okay. I’m happy.” She knew they didn’t care, but maybe if she kept repeating herself like a broken record, one day it would stick, and they would understand. 

“We want you to be happy, you know that, right?” He sighed, Claire immediately offering an incredulous stare. 

“We just know what is best for you.” Eleanor added.

“More like you think you know what’s best for me.” She looked away.

“You have been together with this guy for less than a day and he already made you cry!” Robert recalled how she had stormed into the house crying from the game. “Sam never made you cry, not once!” Eleanor added. “He is bad news, hun. He will just break your heart.” 

Claire scoffed, “I wasn’t crying because of Owen. Sam and I had just broken up!” She let them know. “Yes…your precious perfect boy made me cry.” She gasped mockingly.

“Owen is not suitable for a girl like you, Claire.” Eleanor insisted.

“OH . MY . GOD!!” Claire screeched. 

A light top on the door interrupted them, both parents looking over their shoulder and Claire’s eyes moving to meet her elder sister’s.

“I made some popcorn, are you ready for our movie?” Karen offered casually, holding a bowl of popcorn in her hands, trying to break the fight and save her sister from hearing for the tenth time that night how Owen was not good for her because their parents were snobs.

“Yeah. I was just finishing homework.” Claire was quick to follow the bit. 

Both parents sighed and shook their heads. “We will discuss this further some other time.” Robert announced before he walked out with his wife. 

“SUPER! I can’t wait!” Claire called out before her sister closed the door behind them.

 

* * *

 

That Monday, Claire got out of her dad’s car without saying goodbye, and with a deep sigh she took in the building in front of her. She was wearing Owen’s jersey to school; there was no reason for them to keep hiding their relationship. She was nervous, not sure if the entire school knew about her break-up with long term boyfriend Sam or if seeing her with Owen would come off as a shocking image.

Soon, Owen was standing by her side and intertwined his fingers with hers. The two of them shared a peck and smiled at each other. Some students had noticed as they made their way upstairs to the entrance, and were completely puzzled. 

Owen ran his arm around her neck and held her possessively against him. It was time to show her off and let the student body know that gorgeous redhead was his. The two of them casually started walking up the stairs, every teen they were leaving behind them unable to unglue their eyes from them.

Karen had been right, and it seemed Sam hadn’t told anyone about what happened. The couple exchanged a kiss halfway through the hallway, and everybody shifted their eyes from Claire and Owen to Sam, who was quiet and looking completely defeated at his locker, changing his books.

Owen escorted his girlfriend to her locker, glaring at curious people, threatening to make their life a living hell if they made Claire feel bad about the circumstances; even for teens, swapping boyfriends throughout the weekend seemed extreme, especially knowing the backstory between the former couple and Owen’s history with Sam.

Claire changed her books and started looking around until her eyes found Vivian and Zara observing her from a few lockers away. They shook their heads and looked away, making Claire frown. So, Sam had talked to their friends; that explained why they hadn’t been waiting for her at the entrance like usual.

Owen titled his head and frowned, noticing Claire’s disappointed look. Once her green orbs made contact with his hazel ones, she lit up once again. Owen smiled back, and cupping her cheeks, he kissed her lovingly.

Claire leaned against the lockers and let her fingers brush up and down his forearms, tilting her head to the side and letting their tongues dance softly together. Once they pulled back, her smile was back on. Owen pecked her lips a couple of times. 

The redhead frowned when she saw Sam had frozen at the image of his recent ex-girlfriend publicly kissing Owen in the hallway. He looked down and started walking away, Lowery rushing to his side and giving Claire a look before looking away.

It had taken Claire two periods to try and have Zara talk to her. She wasn’t regretting picking Owen over Sam and she wasn’t mad that her friends didn’t want to talk to her again and were picking sides, but she wished they could talk to her again one day; especially Zara, who was her best friend.

They finally had a period together, and it was then that the brunette approached her, and they agreed to meet in the restroom. Zara was still mad, but she also wanted to hear Claire’s version of the story. 

“I knew it! I knew it, I had asked you about it and you ditched me!” Zara was more upset about that than anything else. 

“I know…I am sorry.” Claire frowned.

“I mean it is really shitty that you treated Sam like that, but I thought I was your best friend! I thought you knew I would understand.” Zara tiled her head. 

“Well… do you?” Green eyes went big, hoping her friend actually would. 

“NO? Are you insane? Claire, of all people… Owen Grady?” She huffed.

“You can’t really pick who you fall in love with, you know?” Claire looked down.

Zara frowned. “That jersey looks great on you.” She nodded faintly, “It suits you.” She shrugged.

“We just fit.” Claire shrugged with a faint blush. “If you gave him a chance, you’d see what I mean.”

“We’ll see…” Zara smiled softly.

“Are we still friends?” Claire sighed lightly.

Zara smiled and nodded. “But if he ends up being trash…”

“He isn’t. You’ll see…” Claire promised.

“We’ll see…”

 

* * *

 

The only period Claire had been looking forward to was lunch. This was when the whole dynamic was going to change and as they had always wanted, Claire and Owen could finally sit together. Owen had one arm around her while holding his tray with the other one. Claire was holding hers with both hands, following him to his usual table across from the one she sat at every day. She looked over to find Sam staring down at this food. She carefully set her tray down and looked up at Owen. 

“What side do you want, babe?” He offered her to pick. Travis was on one side and Barry on the other one.

Claire sighed, and feeling completely intimidated by both jocks, she clung onto his bicep. “Um… don’t you usually sit on that side?” She pointed out to the side facing her friends. 

“That was just so he could stare at you….” Barry teased, blowing kisses and making ogling eyes. 

Claire blushed but couldn’t help chuckling.

Barry bit on his sandwich and smiled. “But it’s cool, I’ll move.” He offered with his mouth stuffed and he moved to the other bench next to Travis, so the couple could sit together. 

“I think we have History together.” Dan smiled upon opening his bag of chips.

“Yeah.” She nodded shyly, slipping close to Owen, feeling completely awkward chit chatting with them when they used to make fun of her and her friends. 

Owen smiled, and with a light nod he reassured her.

“We won’t bite you.” Travis laughed. “If we do, Grady would rip our heads off.” Barry added jokingly.

Claire chuckled nervously. “You dressed up in drag for that project on Lincoln.” She tried to make some small talk with Dan now that he had brought up the class they had together.

“Don’t I make a beautiful Mary Todd?” He ran his fingers through his hair and fluttered his eyelids.

“He still has the dress.” The rest of the jocks laughed. “And uses it to play tea party with his dolls.”

“I’ll give you thirty bucks if you wear it and ask Mr Weaver out!” Travis and Dan challenged Owen, letting Claire have a front row seat to how their troublemaking ideas came to life. 

She laughed.

“Make it forty, she just chipped in with ten too.” Barry teased the redhead.  

Claire quickly shook her head, “No… you don’t have to do that.” She laughed.

The three jocks laughed along. 

Claire casually looked up from her food and watched Sam and Lowery leave the table ten minutes before lunch was over. She was feeling awful, like she was gloating her relationship with Owen in his face. Owen noticed this and kissed her temple.

“Are you okay?” He smiled, running his arm around her and keeping her close.

Claire nodded and gently kissed his lips to reassure him. 

“Nothing to see here people!” The jocks started to call out, teasing the couple as they exchanged a sweet loving kiss.

Claire blushed and pulled away, her eyes’ attention stolen by Zara and Vivian, who were waving at her to move to their table now that the boys had left. 

“I’ll go hang out with my friends for a minute, meet me there once lunch is over?” Claire suggested. 

Owen nodded, and with a peck he let her move tables.

“Hi…” Claire offered timidly as she sat on the bench across from her friends. She knew things were awkward and she didn’t know how to behave.

“Oh my god, he is so cute!” Vivian admitted, breaking the ice, letting Claire know that they weren’t judging her and wanted to remain friends.

“I know…” Claire blushed.

“I told her.” Zara admitted guiltily. She just wanted to get Vivian on board to stay friends with the redhead.

Claire looked down and nodded, it was evident to both girls that she felt awful for hurting Sam like this, but they understood. Owen was hot, and just by watching them interact in the halls and right now during lunch, they could see how good he was for her.

“So…um…how does it feel?” Vivian asked with a giggle.

“How does it feel what?” Claire wasn’t following. 

“You know…to have sex?” The other girl whispered, not wanting people to hear her. 

“It feels great.” Claire smiled and shrugged.

“Is it true? That it hurts like hell the first time and you bleed a lot?” Both girls leaned against the table, eager to hear about the experience that was still an unexplored territory for both of them.

Claire giggled and looked up for a moment, trying to think about it. It was hard to explain.

“We saw it the other day, it looked like it hurts.” Vivian reminded Claire they knew about the size of the dick she was getting. 

“I wouldn’t say it hurts a lot. It’s painful but…” Claire bit her lip for a moment, trying to find words. “You know how it hurts when you stretch a muscle? It hurts like that.” She explained. “But after a while, you are fine…it feels great, so you forget about the pain.” She shrugged. 

Vivian and Zara giggled innocently. “Where did it happen?”

“His room. I was helping him with his homework and… it just happened.” Claire shrugged.

“Did he treat you right?” Her friends wondered. “That’s the first thing people always ask and what does that even mean?”

Claire nodded. “He was very reassuring and gentle.” She smiled. “I guess it means if he wasn’t a pig and if he made sure it wasn’t too uncomfortable to you.”

“Ohhhhh.” The two other girls nodded. The bell ringing interrupted their questionnaire.

Claire giggled, feeling Owen hugging her from behind and stopping by the table like they had agreed.

“I hope I am not interrupting any important discussion.” He teased, making the other girls giggle. 

Claire shook her head. “These are Zara and Vivian.” She introduced them. “This is Owen. My boyfriend.” She squealed along with her friends at how amazing that sounded and how fitting it felt. 

He smiled, helping Claire turn around and stand up from the bench. “Sorry for stealing her for a second here ladies, but I have to kiss my girl before heading to class.” Those were magic words for Claire, the fact that he was now going to all his classes just to please her, made her feel this fuzzy tinkling in her tummy.

The couple kissed lovingly. Claire had her back to her friends, both of them able to see his last name on her back as they exchanged an electrifying kiss. It was the kind of kiss they had never seen Claire and Sam share before.

“Nice to meet you ladies.” Owen offered to the other two girls, pecking Claire’s lips again a couple of times before heading to class. 

All three girls, left behind, squealed at how handsome and charming he was.


	9. Chapter 9

Claire giggled, leaning against the line of lockers behind her. Owen had his hands around her waist, under her top, unable to get enough of her warm flesh against his finger tips. They were taking a two-seconds breath before they continued with their make out session.

She curved her body against his, letting their noses brush together before he stole a peck from her. Claire’s hands roamed on the back of his neck, deepening the contact of their lips into a full kiss. 

“Some people should just get a room...” Lowery mumbled under his breath, closing his locker just a few feet away from Owen’s. Sam was with him, his back on the couple, not really comfortable seeing them like that just yet — he didn’t really know if he ever would.

“You know what...we should.” Owen suggested, letting his lips travel down Claire’s neck.

Her green eyes fell curiously on his hazel ones, not sure if she followed. 

“Let’s go baby, we can take my bike to my house and get a room there.” He intertwined Claire’s fingers with his, Owen’s eyes were still on her, even if he was saying this out loud for Lowery — and anyone else who dared diss them — to hear.

Sam gulped, his imagination running wild. He knew that being Owen’s girlfriend entailed more than just making out, but for the kind of conversations he had with Claire back when they were together, he never would imagine she’d jump into having sex with him so fast — that was not the Claire he knew...then again, did he really know her at all? 

Sneaking out to go to Owen’s house during lunch break was something the couple had been doing for a couple of weeks now. Robert was still the one dropping Claire off and picking her up, so they couldn’t hang out until after she made it home and managed to escape the everlasting questions her parents asked about her whereabouts. 

The only place they had where they could be together without any interruptions was Owen’s home — both his parents were always at work during the day, keeping the house without any parental supervision. It was the new alternative to them spending the night together; some days they would just cuddle and talk, others they would make love.

For them, sex was always gentle and they took their time. Owen liked worshiping her body, especially now that she was completely his. He couldn’t get enough of the feeling of her folds welcoming his full length every time he penetrated her. The way she curved her back against him and moaned, letting him know the sentiment was mutual, was like gasoline to him.

His lips rolled down her throat and across her collarbone. He could feel her lungs breathing calmly against the kisses he was pressing on his way down between her breasts. The pads of his fingers ran up her thighs, her legs smoothly bending up, opening the space for him to to take her on his bed, just like he did the first time. 

They were alone, oppositely to the nights they had spent in her bedroom; she could let him know aloud how much she liked it when he thrusted in and out of her. 

For Owen, fucking her sweetly was a sacred harmony where both their bodies engaged into more than just physical pleasure. To him, being inside of her meant more than just getting laid, for him it was a moment of intimacy where he could feel how much Claire trusted him and how devoted she was to their relationship.  

Claire moaned softly, tasting the tender kiss Owen was injecting into her, feeling completely comfortable under his frame, staying warm against his sweaty flesh.

Lunch kept their time limited, so their bodies had learned to build each other up fast and enjoy every aspect of the action even when it took them twenty minutes instead of the usual forty-five or so. They had learned to coordinate hard long thrusts, each roll their hips making him go deep inside of her while keeping it tender.

Owen liked kissing her lips while she tiled her head back and parted hers, releasing the noises that let him know she was close. She closed her eyes, always trying to remember how to breathe while her body tensed under his and their lips tasted each other passionately.

His hips went fast, both of them in sync, riding their release almost simultaneously. Neither one of them was ready to let go unless they both could share the pleasure of their climax together. There was nothing they didn’t do together.

The warmth of his eruption came to an end as she clawed her fingers into both his biceps, feeling how her body tensed up around him, Owen never stopping the deep thrusts until she collapsed against his mattress with a loud scream of relief.

He couldn’t get enough of her; he smiled wide, pecking her lips a couple of times, making her giggle. “Okay. I promised I would take you back before the last bell.” They had gotten carried away, their lunch break not enough for the passion they exhaled. 

“Five more minutes.” Claire nibbled on her lower lip, her arms hugging his neck as she kissed up his chin and let their lips meet again.

“I would keep you here with me all afternoon, you know that.” He adjusted on his side, his fingers brushing her sweaty hair back. “But I don’t want you to get in trouble.” He frowned.

Claire knew he was right; if Robert made it to school before she did, then all hell would break loose, and even if she didn’t care what her parents thought or said, they still had the power to make this even more hard for them.

She reached out for her phone and checked the time. It was 3PM, so they had thirty minutes to get dressed and get back to school.

“Unless...” Claire nibbled on her lower lip and gave him a tender pair of puppy eyes.

Owen smiled, kissing her adoringly. He loved when she did that, trying to get him to agree on something from the moment the idea lit up in her head. It was a gentle kiss that reassured her that he didn’t need any manipulative gestures for him to give in, as he would probably go along with it. “Yes…?” He breathed, waiting for her to finish her thought. 

“Unless I text my sister and she comes pick me up.” She blushed.

“Oh.” He pulled back lightly. “And she’d be cool with this?” He wasn’t sure about it, knowing exactly what Claire was implying.

“Please? She likes you, I’ve told you that.” She whimpered. This was the perfect opportunity. They didn’t have to rush back, and Karen could finally meet her boyfriend. 

His eyes fell on hers, a sigh leaving his lips before he kissed her hard. “Okay.” He agreed. Karen had come up once or twice in their conversations, enough for him to understand Claire truly respected her and her opinion really mattered. He had already met the Dearings, in the worst of circumstances, and yet meeting Claire’s elder sister was what truly made him nervous.

“Yes!?” Claire squealed and kissed him lovingly. “You’ll like her, I promise.” She started texting her sister, who would hopefully coordinate with Robert about picking Claire up at school. Karen agreed to be at Owen’s in half an hour, without mentioning that they would have to talk later about skipping class, which was something Claire had never done before, and something she better not pull off again because she wouldn’t cover up for her next time.

 

* * *

 

“That’s her!” Claire announced, recognizing the sound of her sister’s car’s engine. By the time Karen made it over, the couple was already waiting in the living room.

Owen jumped lightly at the loud sound of the car door slamming. He turned to look at Claire who shrugged, it wasn’t like her sister to do that.

Their fingers intertwined as they heard the doorbell. Claire kissed him a couple of times, reassuring him that Karen would love him. She grabbed her backpack and adjusted it over her shoulder, their hands quick to find a way to lace.

“Hey...” The teen greeted her sister, who seemed a little distracted. “Um...this is Owen.” She tilted her head. 

“Hi.” He waved shyly with his free hand. 

The blonde scratched her head and nodded. “Nice to finally meet you.” She smiled, her eyes kept looking back to her car. 

“Karen...” Claire frowned. 

“Yeah...I’m sorry. It’s just that the stupid clutch cable got stuck on my way here, and I can’t really call dad.” She chuckled, “You know, because of reasons.”

“Oh.” The redhead frowned. “How did you manage to make it?”

“First gear. It took me forever.” The blonde rolled her eyes, frustration evident in her voice.

“I can take a look if you want.” Owen offered, his eyes moving from Karen to Claire and gently brushing his thumb against the back of her hand. He had her back and could have the car up and running soon enough.

“Could you?” Karen’s eyes lit up.

“Yeah. I—I take care of my own car and that happened to me once.” Owen nodded, it was no trouble at all. 

Claire smiled, her eyes finding his before she looked back to her sister and nibbled on her lower lip. Robert was very picky about their cars’ maintenance, and he didn’t let anyone but the dealer work on them.

Karen sighed, she didn’t know about this. “Alright.” She nodded softly, handing him the keys. She was doing this for Claire, and to try to let Owen see that she trusted him just because her sister did too.

Owen took the keys from her and smiled faintly. “I have to go get my tools and this might take a while.” He gave her the heads up. “Do you want to come in? I…I don’t know if you guys want to stand there while I work, and I mean we have a comfortable couch.” He shrugged. “At least I think we do.”

Claire nodded and let Karen step in first before they did, Owen still holding her hand. He headed to the kitchen and poured Karen a glass of water, the adult noticing how attentive he was. She thanked him and quickly gulped half of it.

Owen nodded, and once he let go of Claire’s hand, he headed back to his room for his tool box and the keys to his own car. He offered a light smile and his girlfriend smiled back. 

“He is very handsome.” Karen offered once he was out. 

Claire blushed and nodded her head. “Do you like him?” She asked, fiddling with her fingers nervously.

“Five minutes into knowing each other and he is already my knight in shining armor.” Karen teased, “What do you think?” 

The younger sister giggled and nibbled on her lip.

“Is he always alone at home?” Karen noticed there wasn’t really anyone around the house and for the look of it, it never really was.

Claire nodded. “Basically.”

The elder sister frowned, she could imagine how hard it was for that young boy to live practically alone. “I feel like we should be out there learning to do this or something.” She finished her glass of water, and standing up, she headed to the kitchen and rinsed it out. 

Claire followed her sister outside, both girls tilting their heads, finding Owen lying down under the dashboard while he worked on the clutch. “Great ass.” Karen gave her little sister an O.K. gesture. 

“Hey!” The redhead chuckled and nudged her, feeling a little possessive that her sister was checking her man out.

Owen carefully managed to get out of there and walked around to the front of the car so he could pull the wire out, Karen’s eyes growing big, a little alarmed that he had just pulled that long wire out of her car.

“He knows what he is doing.” Claire reassured her. Karen nodded lightly, both girls watching how he cleaned his greasy fingers with a piece of cloth before brushing his arm against his forehead to sweep the little sweat sliding down. 

After about half an hour, both Dearing sisters ended up sitting on the sidewalk, watching him come and go. It didn’t take him long to close the hood and walk around to start the car on. He tried the clutch a couple of times, and after making sure it was good to go, he met the girls by the sidewalk.

“I lubricated your wire a little bit, but you should have it changed soon. You are lucky it didn’t give up.” Owen handed Karen the keys. “I also checked your water and oil levels and filled them up a little.” He scratched his head.

“Thank you.” Karen offered genuinely. “I really appreciate that.” She nodded.

Owen shrugged.

Claire smiled proudly and hugged his waist with both her arms before resting her head over his shoulder. He was all greasy and sweaty, but she didn’t care, what he had just done was very sexy. Owen kissed the top of her head and made eye contact with her.

“You guys should get going.” He sighed. He hated to part from her, but he understood that her parents were probably waiting for both of them.

“Yeah.” Karen agreed. “I owe you one.” She offered. “Come on, say goodbye.” She smiled and headed to the car to give them a minute.

Claire nodded, and after fixing her backpack over her shoulders, the couple shared a loving kiss and let their foreheads pressed against each other. They promised to text once she made it home and agreed to meet by her locker tomorrow morning.

He walked her to the passenger’s side and closed the door once Claire was already inside. She rolled the window down and they shared a couple of pecks through it before both girls waved him goodbye at took off.

 

* * *

 

Dinner time had become dreadful for Claire, it was the only time when her parents would made her interact with them, and every day was the same discussion. The only reason why she sat at the table with them was because if she didn’t have dinner with them, then she wouldn’t be allowed to eat at all.

Claire had learned to gulp her food fast and then just excuse herself, go straight to the bathroom to brush her teeth, and call it a day. 

“STOP IT! JUST PLEASE, ENOUGH.” She finally had enough and teared up at the table. No one in her house aware of the long-term damage they were causing her by being so dismissive towards the boy she loved, especially because their motives to insist he wasn’t good enough for her were so superficial. 

Both parents froze, even if it had been weeks now since Claire had found the courage to step up and prove that she wasn’t scared of them, they still found it shocking that she would talk to them like that.

They turned to look at her, waiting for her rebound, but she was too hurt, and sobbing too loudly to talk. “If you keep this going, I promise…I’ll cut ties with you the moment I go to college.” She threatened, her voice shaking. She didn’t do it now because she still had her whole Senior year ahead of her and she knew she needed them still.

Those broken green eyes, looking completely defeated, fell on Karen. She didn’t have the energy to keep repeating herself over and over again. She was begging her to do something about this.

“He is actually a very nice young man.” Karen gulped, taking the second of dreadful silence that had fallen among them. 

Claire sobbed lightly and cleaned her tears with the sleeves of the tee she was wearing.

“He is actually pretty good with cars too.” The elder daughter sighed, but the look Claire was giving her reminded her how going there wouldn’t be such a good idea. 

“He probably has a lot of practice after breaking into them.” Eleanor mumbled as she cut a piece of her chicken and brought it to her lips.

“I am sorry, who exactly told you he has done that before?” Claire was back into protective mode. 

“He is a bandit, that’s what they do.” The woman casually supposed. 

“OH MY GOD!”

Karen cleared her throat and made eye contact with her sister, “He helped me out this afternoon when I went to pick Claire up at school. We had been stuck there for a while and he made sure the car could bring us back home.”

Robert was already aware of the clutch incident, Karen had left out a lot of details when she suggested they had it changed, and her father had agreed to take it to the dealers the following morning. 

Eleanor and Robert were quiet for a second. 

“He is very skilled and attentive.” Karen started to tell them what had happened, switching settings and using the school parking lot as their location instead of his house, and letting them know Claire had been already with her when he had found them on his way out from football practice. 

“I guess that was very nice of him.” Eleanor shrugged condescendingly. “Do you think your friend could maybe join us for dinner on Friday so we can properly thank him for aiding you?”

“My friend?” Claire snorted, “He is my boyfriend.” She corrected the woman.

Eleanor sighed, “For Owen to join us for dinner.” She refused to address him as Claire’s boyfriend. 

Claire shook her head and turned her sight towards her dad. “So you can insult him to his face? I don’t think so.”

“We want to get to know him Claire, it’s obvious you are infatuated by this young man.” Robert agreed that they should meet him under the proper circumstances.

“I am not infatuated. I love him.”

“Does Friday night at seven work for him?” Eleanor suggested. “Tell him to wear a dress shirt.”

“What do you think he would wear?” Claire didn’t let her mother get one, catching every insult in the air.

“I asked you a question.” The woman looked her daughter’s way.

“So did I, mother.” 

“Tell him not to be late. You are excused.” She added coldly, before going back to her dinner. 

Claire tossed her cloth napkin against the table, and pushing her chair back, she stormed out of there, gladly getting away from them. She ran off to her room and slammed the door behind her.

 

* * *

 

Claire flew down the stairs the moment Owen rang the bell. He had insisted on trying to play their game — bringing gifts and doing all that shit snob people did on tv shows and movies, but Claire had told him to be himself. She got out of the house and closed the door behind her. She had already warned him about Eva and Rudolph and how they would try to attack him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him lovingly. Owen hugged her waist and kept her close to him. 

He turned the headlight of his bike off and made sure it stayed out of the way in the driveway.

“Whatever happens in there, please don’t forget that they don’t change anything. I love you.” She rested her forehead against his feeling him nod. “Thank you for doing this.” She knew he didn’t really want to, and it wasn’t his kind of thing.

“Is your sister going to be there?” Owen fixed his jacket. He thought that at least Karen could ease things up, Claire had told him how she had stepped up for them. Claire nodded, and taking his hand, she quietly got back into the house.

He took his jacket off; he was wearing the dress shirt Eleanor had suggested, neatly pressed and a pair of khaki pants. He didn’t have other shoes but the ones he usually wore, but he hoped they wouldn’t notice.

“Mom, this is my boyfriend Owen.” Claire introduced them, even if they already knew each other, once the woman made it to the living room. 

She looked down, inspecting his entire attire. Claire hung his jacket on the rack by the door. Owen stood tall and firm, almost like a soldier in formation. “Did you guys clean your shoes on your way into the house?” Eleanor raised an eyebrow the moment she noticed his washed-up shoes.

His entire effort to look presentable for her crumbled the moment she dissed him like that. “Yes ma’am.” He nodded.

“Hmm...” She took a seat on the couch, barely making eye contact with Claire after noting the death glare she was throwing at her. 

Owen smiled faintly, feeling Claire holding his hand, and brought it up to his lips, both walking into the living room to join her parents. Robert was by the drinks cart fixing some beverage for them while dinner was ready.

Claire sat across from Eleanor and looked up so Owen could sit next to her. The young man immediately stood up when Karen came downstairs.

“Please sit down.” She smiled, “I’m glad you came. I told my parents how you came to the rescue the other day and this is their way to thank you.” She knew the Dearings would never extend their (fake) gratitude, so she made sure the teen knew his assistance was appreciated.

“You are welcome.” He nodded. “Did you take care of that clutch?” He genuinely asked with concern.

“We took the car to the dealer to be properly checked.” Robert let him know, making emphasis on properly, because his insight was far from being the one of a professional.

“Didn’t they tell you it was a good thing you had brought it in time? That one more day and it would have broken on Karen?” Claire pursed her lips, reminding them that Owen’s diagnosis had been correct and they knew it.

“Gin, darling?” Robert changed the subject, offering his wife a drink before he made Karen’s usual and offered both teens a coke.   

Once dinner was served, Owen looked down to his plate: the main course looked more expensive than all the meals he had in one week combined. He wasn’t a picky eater, so he didn’t have an issue with the duck or whatever kind of bird they had served him.

Claire was slow at maneuvering the utensils so he could follow along, like placing his napkin over his lap.

“So, Owen” Robert cleared his throat and cleaned his lips with his napkin. “What are your plans for college?” He smiled lightly. Academic status was very important for the man. “Any dream colleges you are aiming to get accepted in?” 

“Um…” Owen swallowed the bite of food he had in his mouth, Claire’s hand gently reaching out and holding his under the table, reassuring him. “No. I don’t…” He figured saying he wasn’t thinking of going to college wasn’t that clever. “I don’t know yet.” He smiled faintly. 

“Aren’t you a Junior?” Robert was confused. The semester was almost over.

“Robert, he still has a whole year to think this through.” Eleanor added condescendingly before taking a sip of her water. 

Owen slowly nodded, but Karen shook her head from across the table, letting him know that didn’t mean she was on his side.

“He will be a senior next year! Colleges expect you to send your applications by spring break at most!” Robert couldn’t believe this.

“Yes, but aren’t you redoing Junior next year?” Mrs Dearing smiled softly, “Just like you did with your Freshman and Sophomore.” She nodded.

Owen frowned, realizing what Karen was trying to tell him.

This was unacceptable for Robert. “What kind of grades do you have, Owen?” He tried to keep his posture.

“Um… a little bit of everything.” He chuckled nervously.

“He got the second highest grade in the physics test we did last week.” Claire offered with a proud smile.

“So the class didn’t do well in that test?” Eleanor sounded concerned. 

“He got an A-.” Claire snapped. 

“Define a little bit of everything?” Robert requested.

“Owen’s record card has been going up significantly, right?” Karen nodded, aware that Claire had been pushing him.

“Yes, this last semester I’ve been able to save some subjects.” He smiled, resting his hand on Claire’s over the table.

“I’ve been making sure he catches up in his classes so we can go into Senior year together.” Claire smiled back to her boyfriend.

“You’ve always liked a challenge.” 

“MOM!” Claire warned her once. 

“Education is the most important thing in life after family.” Robert offered. “It is unacceptable for a young man or woman to skip college when it’s the gate to success.”

“You can be successful without going to college.” Claire glared over. 

“Says who!?” Robert was offended at such insinuation. 

“Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Michael Dell…”

“They did go to college, young lady!” Robert insisted. 

“They are dropouts, dad.” Karen reminded him. 

“You see babe, you can just enroll into college and then drop out.” She took Owen’s hand and stood up. “That way you can have them out of your ass for good.” Owen slowly stood up next to her. “Come on, let’s go, we are done here.” She walked around the table, bringing him with her.

“Bye Karen, thank you for everything.” He offered the elder sister and followed his girlfriend.

“I can’t wait for you to get me out of here for good!” She called out from the living room on their way out.

 

* * *

 

The couple had stopped by Owen’s favorite burger place for some cheeseburgers, fries and milkshakes on his way to his quiet place. He knew Claire needed it more than he did. She was furious and it saddened him to think this is what she went through every day trying to defend him.

He held her close to him while they sat on their bench overlooking the city. Claire was on the verge of tears, munching on her burger even when she was not hungry. “I’m sorry…” He looked down. 

“You were perfect.” She shook her head, letting him see her cry. “You know that nothing of that defines you for me, right?” She closed her eyes, feeling his lips on hers, kissing her gently.

“I know.” He assured her, drying her tears with kisses. “Why are you crying?” He was hoping it wasn’t because of him. 

“Because…I’m angry.” She shrugged. “I am angry and hurt that they can’t see you the way I do.” She sniffed and nuzzled into him. 

“That’s what made me fall in love with you…” He hugged her tight, keeping her in his embrace. 

Claire looked up, taking the kiss he was offering.

“That you didn’t see me the way everybody else does.” He smiled softly. “I don’t care if they don’t like me. I don’t care if the world doesn’t tolerate me.” Owen assured her, “But you see me, and for that I love you.”

Claire nodded, “I love you…” She smiled, kissing him lovingly, letting him transport her into that magical world where only the two of them existed.


	10. Hiatus Announcement

Hello,

So as some of you may have noticed, it’s been almost a month since my last update. I used to juggle a handful of stories simultaneously and post new chapters daily. 

However, for the past few months now, I have been feeling unmotivated to keep updating my stories. I slowly started to go from posting every day, to every two days, until completely stopping.

The reason why I’m writing this note and letting you guys know that I might not continue posting, is because I didn’t want to leave the few of you who constantly shared your enthusiasm hanging and waiting. I appreciate all of you and I felt like I needed to let you know what happened that I abruptly stopped updating.

I haven’t stopped writing though. I have a handful of unpublished chapters for each of the 4 fics that are WiP. I just don’t feel the urge or a reason to share more chapters anymore. 

(If you follow me on twitter, this hiatus being “official” doesn’t come as a surprise). 

You guys have no idea how crucial and essential it is for a fanfic writer to have feedback and constant encouragement to keep posting and writing, especially for multi-chapters. The fact that a reader takes ten — hell, even just two — minutes of their time to stop by the comments section to share their thoughts on the chapter/one shot and leave a review, helps us to see that you guys are actually reading, enjoying and following the storyline, which is the main fuel for motivation and enthusiasm in publishing. 

The silence that us writers get — and I’m saying “us” because I know it’s not just me who feels like giving up — after every update translates to people not being interested. 

I wanted to share with you guys our POV to give you another perspective (the most important one) on how it’s like to be on this side of Fanfiction.

It’s a lot of work to write a chapter. Oneshots are easier, but a multi-chapter takes a lot of energy, and they are very consuming (especially if they are long). It takes me about 8 hours to write a chapter (and some writers take days or even a couple of weeks), and I often change my mindset from one fanfic setting to a completely different one, which is really exhausting; no one out there does the same, or at least I don’t think so. So, getting in the mindset of a couple of teenagers dealing with a pair of square snob parents one day, and the following day change my perspective to write a couple who is in the middle of the jungle trying to survive with nothing but their instincts, just to then end up getting little to no appreciation, is very discouraging.

Yes, you might come back to read each update, but the only way us writers have of knowing that you are enjoying it and anticipate an update, is if you let us know. 

Fanfiction is a two way relationship between writer and reader: the writer needs you guys to be active readers, to engage with us, and let us know you are liking the story, what you like or not, snips you are catching here and there, etc. Just like you guys need the author to update and keep your favorite stories going. And by not engaging, it comes across as you guys not being interested in the work, which results in us losing motivation and eagerness to keep writing.  

There can be many reasons why people don’t take a few minutes to write a heartfelt review or a few words, but in general it’s not really fair, and believe me, it feels like no one is on the other end, or that the stories you have to tell are ignored or just bad. 

Like I said; it takes us hours, days, weeks to put together one chapter, and all we ask in return is for you guys to take 60 seconds to let us know you’re there. Seriously, even a simple “I loved this because...” Sometimes, even just Kudos might help when you are a first time reader. 

Maybe English is not your first language and you don’t know how to express your thoughts? Well, I have a couple of readers who leave comments in Spanish (I speak Spanish), one of them even takes her time to give very rich, insightful reviews. If Spanish is not your language either, then leave them in yours and trust me...I’ll use google translate if I have to, in order to understand you.

Perhaps you don’t leave comments because you had a bad experience and previous authors wouldn’t even care for them. I acknowledge every reader who stops by and leaves some love. I’ve made a couple of close friends that way, actually. I even listen to suggestions and prompts and have used many of them on my chapters across the board. 

Maybe you don’t have an account, but AO3 lets guests to leave comments and kudos without the need to log in, because they know how those are indispensable for fics to keep coming. 

What I’m trying to say is that your motivation and encouragement are indispensable for us. Without it, we don’t have ground to keep sharing our stories, since it feels like no one is reading, or, to put it more bluntly, that no one cares. Sometimes it might be the case that, especially when stories get updated regularly, people just start getting used to it and take the updates for granted, as if writers were faithful robots that satisfied you in one click. But we are not. Fanfiction is not a job, we have lives and struggles outside of it, so very often, writing here is a way to relax and get to a happy place. But, truth is, writing (and posting regularly), no matter how much you love it, is hard, it’s draining, and passion and motivation are the only fuel in this case. And coming here to an empty audience leaves us with none. 

I keep writing for myself, so the stories aren’t really unfinished. I just don’t have a concrete reason to share them when the audience is perceived as nonexistent. 

Thank you for taking your time to read this and hear me out. I hope we can start a two-way relationship, if you’d like for me to keep sharing with you my stories. 


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